RARY   OF   THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA 


LIBRARY   OF  THE   II 

6 


BARY   OF  THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA         LIBRARY   OF  THE 


OF   CALIFORNIA 


LIBRARY    OF   THE    UNIVERSITY   OF   GALIFORN 


v   OF   CALIFORNIA 


LIBRARY    OF   THE    UNIVERSITY   OF    CALIFORN 


I 


RY 


1 


i 


MINING 


PACIFIC  STATES 


NORTH     AMERICA. 


BY  JOHN  S.  HITTELL. 


SAN  FRANCISCO: 

H.  H.  BANCROFT  AND   COMPANY. 
1861. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  A.  D.  1861, 

By  H.  H.   BANCROFT  &   COMPANY, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the 
Northern  District  of  California. 


TOWNE  &  BACON,  PRINTERS,  503  CLAY  STREET,  SAN  FRANCISCO. 


PREFACE. 

THIS  book  is  intended  for  the  general  reader,  not  for  the  special- 
ist. I  do  not' undertake  to  teach  the  quartz  miner  or  the  hydraulic 
miner  anything  new  about  his  special  branch  of  business,  but  I  may 
tell  something  about  the  occupation  of  each  to  the  other.  My  object 
has  been  to  collect,  arrange  in  a  lucid  manner,  condense  and  set 
forth  in  a  clear  style,  all  the  attainable  information  about  the  main 
points  of  our  mining  and  mineral  resources,  so  that  the  reader,  who 
has  never  been  in  the  mines,  can  easity  form  an  intelligible  idea  of 
the  chief  industry  of  this  coast.  Specialists  might  desire  more  elab- 
orate treatment  of  their  various  branches,  but  a  thorough  technical 
handling  of  geology,  chemistry,  metallurgy,  mechanics,  law,  history 
and  trade,  in  so  far  as  they  are  connected  with  mining  in  California, 
would  have  required  an  encyclopedia.  Besides,  accurate  informa- 
tion on  many  points  is  not  to  be  had,  or  can  be  obtained  only  by 
great  expense. 

I  am  indebted  for  useful  hints  to  Messrs.  C.  Heusch,  C.  S.  Capp, 
Dr.  J.  A.  Veatch,  C.  Trinius  and  C.  Wennerhold. 

In  the  second  chapter,  I  have  expressed  the  opinion  that  Califor- 
nia never  can  produce  her  own  coal,  and  this  has  been,  until  very 
recently,  the  opinion  of  all  the  geologists  in  the  State ;  but  since 
that  chapter  wTas  written,  the  coal  mines  on  the  slope  of.  Mount 
Diablo  have  been  opened,  and  Professor  Whitney,  State  Geologist, 
thinks  they  will  kprobably  furnish  good  coal.  I  am  not  convinced, 
but  dare  not  say  much  against  such  authority. 

The  fifth  chapter,  in  which  Washoe  is  spoken  of  as  part  of  Utah, 
was  in  type  before  we  had  news  of  the  organization  of  Nevada 
Territory. 

JOHN  S.  HITTELL. 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  April  1st.  1861, 


INDEX  TO  CHAPTERS. 


CHAP.  .  \          PAGE. 

I.  HISTORY  OF  MINING  IN  THE  PACIFIC  STATES     9 

II.  MINERALOGY  OF  GOLD 41 

III.  CHEMISTRY  OF  GOLD 49 

IV.  GEOLOGY  OF  GOLD 54 

V.  THE  MINING  DISTRICTS 68 

VI.    PROSPECTING 115 

VII.    ASSAYING 121 

VIII.    MODES  OF  PLACER  MINING 127 

IX.    PROCESSES  OF  GOLD-QUARTZ  MINING 154 

X.    PROCESSES  OF  SILVER  MINING 168 

XI.    THE  LAWS  OF  MINING  IN  CALIFORNIA 176 

XII.    MISCELLANY 204 

APPENDIX 214 

SEE  PARTICULAR  INDEX  ON  NEXT  PAGE. 


PARTICULAR  INDEX. 


CHAPTER  I.  HISTORY  or  MINING  IN  THE  PACIFIC  STATES,  page  9. 


PAGE. 

§   1.  Discovery  of  CalifornianGold,  9 

§   2.    Drake's  Report 9 

§    3.    Spanish  Reports 10 

§   4.    Forbes  and  Maufras 10 

§   5.    Dana 10 

§6     Larkin 11 

§   7.  Marshall,  the  true  discoverer  11 

§   8.    Another  version 13 

§    9.  Mining  becomes  a  business..  14 

§10.    New  Placers  found 15 

§  11.    Newspaper  Reports 16 

§12.    Rush  to  the  Mines 17 

§  13.  Excitement  in  the  States. ...  18 

§14.    Excitement  in  Europe 14 

§15.  Discovery  of  New  Districts..  20 

§16.    Number  of  Miners 20 

§17.    Wages  of  Miners 21 

§  18.    Character  of  Claims 21 

§  19.    Mining  Implements. 22 


PAGE. 

§  20.    Mining  Excitements 22 

§  21.    The  Greenwood  Rush .  22 

§22.    Gold  Lake 23 

§23.    Gold  Bluff 23 

§  24.    Second  Gold  Lake 25 

§  25.    Australia 26 

§  26.    Peru 26 

§27.    Small  Rushes 27 

§  28.    Kern  River 27 

§  29.  Sacramento  and  Oakland. ...  29 

§  30.    Fraser  River 29 

§  31.    The  Washoe  Fever 35 

§  3'2.  Mining  Inventions  of  Califor- 
nia   36 

§  33.  Exhaustion  of  the  Mines....  39 

§  34.  Various  changes  since  '49. ...  38 

§85.    New  Almaden ,. 38 

§36.    The  Gold  Yield 39 


CHAPTER  II.    MINERALOGY  OF  GOLD page  41. 

§37.    Metals  obtained  on  the  Coast  41     §41.    Forms  of  Quartz....  Gold...  43 
§38.    NoOreofGold 42     §42.    GoldDust.... 44 

"     T1- '<•;»*  ..11     S  43.    Forms  of  TMocpr  Oolrt 44 


VI 


PARTICULAR    INDEX. 


CHAPTER  III.    CHEMISTRY  OF  GOLD page  49. 

§45.    Chemical  Fineness  of  Gold 49. 

CHAPTER  IV.    THE  GEOLOGY  OF  GOLD page  54. 

§46.    The  formation  of  Gold 54  §54.  The   Great   Quartz  Vein   of 

§  47.    Quartz  the  Mother  of  Gold. .  54  California , 58 

§48.    The  Igneous  Theory 54  §55.  Formation  of  the  Placers....  70 

§  49.    The  Vapor  Theory 55  §  56.  Diluvial  and  Alluvial  Placers  62 

§  50.    The  Aqueous  Theory 56  §  57.  Ancient  and  Modern  Streams  63 

§51,    The  Country  of  Gold 58  §58.    Blake's  Classification 63 

§  52 .    Rules  of  Quartz  Veins 57  §  59.    Position  of  Pay  Dirt 65 

§53.    Quartz  Veins  poorer  as  they  §60.  Geological  Character  of  Coast  65 

descend 58  §  61.    Volcanic  Mountains 66 

§  62.    Hot  Springs 66 

CHAPTER  V.    THE  MINING  DISTRICTS page  68. 

§63.  Orography  of  the  Coast 68  §76.    Calaveras  County 90 

§  64.  Metals  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  68  §  77.    Tuolumne  County 92 

§  65.  General  List  of  Districts 69  §  78.    Mariposa  County 95 

§66.  Climates 70  §79.    Shasta  District 79 

§67.  Sacramento  District 71  §80.    Kern  River  District 99 

§68.  Plumas  County 72  §81.    Fraser  District 100 

§69.  Sierra  County 72  §82.    RogueRiver 101 

§70.  ButteCounty 78  §83.  Upper  Columbia  District....  102 

§71.  NevadaCounty 79  §84.    Washoe 105 

§72.  Yuba  County 81  §85.    Esmeralda 109 

§73.  Placer  County 84  §86.    Coso 110 

§74.  El  Dorado  County 86  §87.    Arizona 110 

§75.  Amador  County 89  §88.    Quicksilver  Districts Ill 

CHAPTER  VI.    PROSPECTING page  115. 

§89.    Prospecting  a  River  Bar 115     §92.    Prospecting  a  Flat 118 

§  90.    Prospecting  in  a  Ravine 117     §  93.    Prospecting  for  Quartz 118 

§  91.    Prospecting  with  a  Knife ....  117 

CHAPTER  VII.    ASSAYING page  121. 

§  94.  Kinds  of  Assays 120  §  100.    Silver  Assay  with  Testing 

§  95.  Means  of  Assaying 120  Tube 123 

§  96.  Gold  Assay  with  a  Spoon..  120  §101;    Silver  Assay  by  Smelting...  123 

§  97.  Assay   of  a  Metallic  Sub-  §  102.    Assaying  Gold   Quartz    by 

stance 122  weight- 124 

§  98.  Gold  Assay  by  Smelting....  122  §103.    Importance  of  fair  Samples 

S  V9.  Presence  of  Copper  Pyrites.. 123  In  Assaying 125 


PARTICULAR   INDEX. 


CHAPTER  VIII.    MODES  OF  PLACER  MINING page  127. 


§104. 

List  of  Modes  

127 

§  115. 

The  Tail  Sluice  , 

.  140 

§105. 

Knife  Mining  

127 

§116. 

The  Ground  Sluice  

,  14R 

§106. 

Dry  Diggings  

127 

§117. 

The  Sluice  Tunnel  

14?, 

§107. 

Dry  Washing  

127 

§118. 

The  Under-current  Sluice 

..143 

§108. 

Panning  

129 

§119. 

Hydraulic  Mining  

...144 

§  109. 

The  Rocker  

129 

§  120. 

Tunnel  Miuing  

146 

§  110. 

The  Puddling  Box  

132 

§  121. 

Shaft  Mining  

148 

§111. 

The  Long  Tom  

133 

§  122. 

River  Mining  , 

,..149 

§112. 

The  Quicksilver  Machine... 

133 

§123. 

Beach  Mining  

..151 

§113. 

The  Board  Sluice  .  .  ,  

134 

§  124. 

Blasting  

158 

§114. 

The  Rock  Sluice  

134 

§125. 

Mining  Ditches  

...153 

CHAPTER  IX.    PROCESSES 

OF 

QUARTZ  MINING  page 

154. 

§126. 

Comparison  of  Quartz  with 

§137. 

The  Blanket  

,  159 

Placer  Mining  

154 

§138. 

The  Golden  Fleece  

159 

§  127. 

Quarrying  the  Rock  

155 

§139. 

The  Sluice  

.,T59 

§128. 

Pulverizing  the  Quartz  

155 

§  140. 

Amalgamation  

,  159 

§  129. 

Pulverizing  with  a  stone  — 

155 

§141. 

In  the  Battery  

..159 

§130. 

The  Arastra  

155 

§  142. 

Copper  Slate  

,   160 

§  131. 

The  Chilean  Mill  

157 

§143. 

Amalgamating  Basins.... 

..160 

§132. 

The  Square  Stamp  

157 

§144. 

General  Remarks  

..160 

§  133. 

The  Rotary  Stamp  

158 

§145. 

Sulphurets  and  Amalgama- 

§ 134. 

Horizontal  Stones  

158 

tion  

.166 

§  135. 

Separation  of  Gold  

,15ft 

§146. 

Quartz  Mining  as  a  business.  166 

§  136. 

Appliances  for  Separating.  . 

158 

CHAPTER  X.    PROCESSES  OF  SILVER  MINING page  168. 


§  147.  Comparison  of  Gold  and  Sil- 
ver Mining 168 

§  148.    Silver  Ores  of  Pacific  Coast .  168 

§  149.  The  Reduction  of  Silver 

Ores 168 

§  150.    Silver  Smelting 170 


§  151.  Salt  Solution  Process 170 

§  152.  Barrel  Amalgamation 171 

§  153.  The  Patio  Process 172 

§  154.  The  Eliquation  Process 173 

§  155.  New  Processes 173 


CHAPTER  XI.    THE  LAWS  OF  MINING  IN  CALIFORNIA,  page  176. 

§  161.    Incorporated  Mining  Com- 
panies  182 

§  162.    Decisions  of  Supreme  Court 

on  Mining 183 

§  163.    Mining  Law  in  Nevada 184 

§  164.    Mining  on  Pre-emption 

Claims 184 


§  156.    Public  Mining  Land  open  to 

all 176 

§  157.    Mineral  Land  owned  in  fee.  176 

§  158.    Foreign  Miners 179 

§  159.    Authority  of  Miners'  Regu- 
lations  180 

§  160.    Mode  of  taking  up  Claims. .  181 


VIII 


PARTICULAR   INDEX. 


§165. 
§166. 
§167. 

Limits  of  Claims  downwards 
Fluming  and  tailing  Claims. 
Conveyance  of  Mining 
Claims  , 

(184 
186 

187 

§175. 
§176. 
§177. 

§168. 
§169. 
§170. 
§171. 
§172. 
§  173. 

Water  subject  to  claim  
Older  claim  has  preference. 
Abandonment  of  Water  
Claims  entitled  to  Water.  .  . 
Claim  of  water  for  a  Ditch.  , 

,187 
189 
189 
189 
,189 
189 

§178. 
§179. 
§160. 

§174. 

Regulations  of  Columbia 
District... 

W, 

Regulations  of  Pilot  Hill. ...  195 
Regulations  of  Mush  Flat... 195 
Regulations  of  New  Kanaka 

Camp 197 

Quartz  Regulations  of  Tuol- 

umne  County 198 

Silver   Regulations  of  Vir- 
ginia District.... 199 

Silver  Regulations  of  Genoa 
District   ..  ...  200 


CHAPTER  XII.    MISCELLANY page  204. 


§  181.  Value  of  Gold  according  to 

fineness 204 

§  182.  Gold  Dust  trade  in  Califor- 
nia  204 

§  183.    How  Gold  is  carried 205 

§  184.    Private  Coins  of  California.. 208 


§  185.    Gold  Export  oi  California. .  .208 

§  186.    Cheats  in  Mining. 208 

§  187.    How  the  Miners  live 211 

§  188.    Cost  of  living 212 

§  189.    Mineral    Lands   should  be 

sold 212 


APPENDIX page  214 


CHAPTER    I. 

HISTORICAL  SKETCH.. 


Discovery  of  Californian  Gold.  \  1.  The  existence 
of  rich  and  extensive  gold  mines  in  California  was  discovered 
by  James  W.  Marshall,  an  American  citizen  and  a  native  of 
New  Jersey,  on  the  nineteenth  of  January,  1848.  Gold  had, 
previous  to  that  time,  been  found,  but  in  places  where  the 
mines  were  not  extensive ;  their  •  production  was  scarcely 
known  to  commerce,  and  their  working,  after  long  years,  led  to 
no  important  results.  Marshall's  discovery  speedily  and  di- 
rectly exercised  an  influence  that  \vas  felt  throughout  the 
world,  and  gave  a  new  life  to  trade  and  industry  in  Europe 
and  America. 

Drake's  Report.  §  2.  The  first  published  report  of 
gold  in  California,  is  in  Hakluyt's  account  of  Sir  Francis 
Drake's  visit  to  this  coast  in  1579.  That  voyager  entered  a 
bay,  about  latitude  thirty-eight  degrees,  supposed  to  be  the  one 
now  called  "  Drake's  Bay,"  twenty  miles  north-westward  from 
the  mouth  of  San  Francisco  Bay.  If  not  the  former,  it  cer- 
tainly was  the  latter  bay.  The  historian  of  the  voyage  says  : 
''  There  is  no  part  of  the  earth  here  to  be  taken  up*  wherein 
there  is  not  a  reasonable  quantity  of  gold  or  silver."  There  is 
no  statement  that  any  of  Drake's  men  penetrated  into  the  in- 
terior, or  made  any  search  for  these  metals,  or  obtained  any 
specimens  of  them  ;  and  since  neither  gold  nor  silver  is  found 
in  the  loose  earth  at  either  Drake's  Bay  or  San  Francisco  Bay, 
we  are  justified  in  presuming  the  statement  to  be  an  impudent 
lie,  written  for  the  purposes  of  making  the  voyage  appear  im- 
portant, giving  interest  to  the  narrative,  and  imposing  on  the 
ignorant  and  credulous. 


10  HAND-BOOK   OF    MINING. 

Spanish  Reports.  \  3.  The  Spaniards  and  Mexicans 
who  visited  the  coast  at  various  times,  by  land  and  sea,  and 
who  were  familiar  with  the  indications  of  the  precious  metals 
and  knew  how  to  search  for  them,  undoubtedly  found  gold  at 
various  places,  particularly  near  the  Colorado  river  ;  but  they 
found  no  placers  rich  enough  to  pay  for  the  labor  of  working. 
The  impression  went  abroad,  however,  that  the  country  had 
great  mineral  wealth,  and  continued  to  prevail  until  the 
American  conquest.  It  was  only  a  vague  rumor,  and  was 
published  in  several  books,  but  it  could  not  command  the  con- 
fidence of  severe  criticism. 

Forbes  and  Maufras.  $  4.  It  is  reported  that  silver 
was  discovered  at  Alizal,  in  Monterey  county,  as  early  as  1802, 
and  gold  was  found  at  San  Isidro,  in  San  Diego  county,  in 
1828,  (Maufras,  vol.  1,  p.  335)  ;  but  the  former  place  never 
yielded  any  silver  worthy  of  note,  and  the  latter  had  not  been 
heard  of  in  1835,  by  Alexander  Forbes,  the  historian  of  Cali- 
fornia, who  wrote :  "  No  minerals  of  particular  importance 
have  yet  been  found  in  Upper  California,  nor  any  ores  of 
metals."  (P.  173.)  In  another  place,  (p.  143)  referring  to 
Hijar's  migration  to  California  in  1833,  he  says  :  "  There  were 
goldsmiths  [in  the  party]  proceeding  to  a  country  where  no 
gold  existed."  The  first  mine  to  produce  any  noteworthy 
amount  of  precious  metal  was  the  gold  placer  in  the  Canon  of 
San  Francisquito,  on  the  ranch  of  the  same  name,  forty-five 
miles  north-north-westward  from  Los  Angeles.  This  placer 
was  discovered  about  the  year  1838,  (Maufras,  vol.  1,  p.  137) 
and  in  1842  the  chief  miner  there  was  a  Frenchman  named 
Barec.  This  placer  was  wrought  continuously  from  1838  till 
1848,  when  it  was  deserted  for  the  richer  diggings  in  the  Sac- 
ramento basin.  The  total  yield  in  ten  years  was  probably  not 
over  $60,000,  a  yearly  average  of  $6,000. 

Dana.  §  5.  In  1842,  James  D.  Dana,  the  geologist  and 
mineralogist  of  Wilkes'  Exploring  Expedition,  visited  Cali- 
fornia, and  traveled  from  the  northern  boundary  through  the 
Sacramento  basin  to  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco,  and  soon  after 
his  return  to  the  Eastern  States  in  1842  or  1843,  he  published 
a  work  on  mineralogy,  in  which  lie  asserted  the  existence  of 

fold  in  California.     I  have  not  been  able  to  find  a  copy  of  the 
rst  edition  of  his  book,  but  a  newspaper  which  has  fallen  into 
my  hands  gives  the  following  quotations,  presumed  to  be  correct. 


HISTORY   OP   MINING.  11 

Speaking  of  places  where  gold  has  been  found,  he  mentioned — 
"  California,  between  the  Sierra  Nevada  and  Sacramento  and 
San  Joaquin  rivers." — (p.  251.)  On  page  252  he  says  :  "  The 
gold  rocks  and  veins  of  quartz  were  observed  by  the  author  in 
1842,  near  the  Umpqua  river,  in  Southern  Oregon,  and  pebbles 
from  similar  rocks  were  met  with  along  the  shores  of  the  Sac- 
ramento, in  California,  and  the  resemblance  to  other  gold  dis- 
tricts was  remarked,  but  there  was  no  opportunity  of  exploring 
the  country  at  the  time."  Mr.  Dana  unquestionably  discovered 
the  existence  of  gold  in  California,  either  by  direct  vision  or  by 
inference,  but  it  was  a  mere  nominal  discovery,  creditable  in  a 
scientific  point  of  view,  but  of  no  practical  use.  He  did  not 
find  diggings  that  would  pay,  nor  did  his  announcement  set 
anybody  to  work  to  hunt  for  such  diggings.  His  merit,  in  so 
far  as  California  is  concerned,  may  be  compared  to  that  of 
Murchison's  similar  discovery  of  auriferous  rock,  or  rock  indi- 
cating auriferous  wealth,  in  Australia.  It  did  no  good,  and 
nobody  paid  any  attention  to  it,  until  the  paying  diggings 
were  found  by  Hargraves,  many  years  later.  As  Hargraves 
is  the  hero  of  the  Australian,  so  is  Marshall  of  the  Californian 
gold  discovery. 

Larkin.  §  6.  Before  giving  the  account  of  his  discovery, 
however,  I  will  quote  the  following  passage  from  a  letter, 
written  on  the  fourth  of  May,  1846,  by  Thomas  O.  Larkiu, 
then  U.  S.  Consul  at  Monterey,  California,  to  James  Bu- 
chanan, Secretary  of  State  under  President  Polk  : 

"  There  is  said  to  be  black  lead  in  the  country  at  San  Fer- 
nando, near  San  Pedro,  [now  Los  Angeles  county].  By 
washing  the  sand  in  a  plate,  any  person  can  obtain  from  $1  to 
$5  pqr  day  of  gold  that  brings  $17  per  ounce  in  Boston  ;  the 
gold  has  been  gathered  for  two  or  three  years,  though  but  few 
have  the  patience  to  look  for  it.  On  the  southeast  end  of  the 
Island  of  Catalina,  there  is  a  silver  mine  from  which  silver 
has  been  extracted.  There  is  no  doubt  but  that  gold,  silver, 
quicksilver,  copper,  lead,  sulphur  and  coal  mines,  are  to  be 
found  all  over  California,  and  it  is  equally  doubtful  whether, 
under  their  present  owners,  they  will  ever  be  worked." 

Marshall  the  true  Discoverer.  \  7.  James  W. 
Marshall,  in  a  letter  dated  January  28th,  1856,  and  addressed 
to  Charles  E.  Pickett,  gave  the  following  account  of  the  gold 
discovery  : 


12  HAND-BOOK    OF    MINING. 

"  Towards  the  end  of  August,  1847,  Capt.  Sutter  and  I 
formed  a  copartnership  to  build  and  run  a  saw-mill  upon  a  site 
selected  by  myself  (since  known  as  Coloma).  We  employed 
P.  L.  Weimer  and  family  to  remove  from  tne  Fort  [Sutler's 
Fort]  to  the  mill  site,  to  cook  and  labor  for  us.  Nearly  the  first 
work  done  was  the  building  of  a  double  log  cabin,  about  half 
a  mile  from  the  mill  site.  We  commenced  the  mill  about 
Christmas.  Some  of  the  mill  hands  wanted  a  cabin  near  the 
mill.  This  was  built,  and  I  went  to  the  Fort  to  superintend 
the  construction  of  the  mill  irons,  leaving  orders  to  cut  a  narrow 
ditch  where  the  race  was  to  be  made.  Upon  my  return,  in 
January,  1848,  I  found  the  ditch  cut  as  directed,  and  those 
who  were  working  on  the  same  were  doing  so  at  a  great  dis- 
advantage, expending  their  labor  upon  the  head  of  the  race 
instead  of  the  foot. 

"  I  immediately  changed  the  course  of  things,  and  upon  the 
nineteenth  of  the  same  month  of  January,  discovered  the  gold 
near  the  lower  end  of  the  race,  about  two  hundred  yards  below 
the  mill.  William  Scott  was  the  second  man  to  see  the  metal. 
He  was  at  work  at  a  carpenter's  bench  near  the  mill.  I  showed 
the  gold  to  him.  Alexander  Stephens,  James  Brown,  Henry 
Bigler  and  William  Johnston  were  likewise  working  in  front 
of  the  mill,  framing  the  upper  story.  They  were  called  up 
next,  and,  of  course,  saw  the  precious  metal.  P.  L.  Weimer 
and  Charles  Bennett  were  at  the  old  double  log  cabin  (where 
Hastings  &  Co.  afterwards  kept  a  store)  and  in  my  opinion,  at 
least  half  a  mile  distant. 

"  In  the  meantime  we  put  in  some  wheat  and  peas,  nearly 
five  acres,  across  the  river.  In  February  the  Captain  [Captain 
Sutter]  came  to  the  mountains  for  the  first  time.  Then  we 
consummated  a  treaty  with  the  Indians,  which  had  been  pre- 
viously negotiated.  The  tenor  of  this  was  that  we  were  to  pay 
them  $200  yearly  in  goods,  at  Yerba  Buena  prices,  for  the 
joint  possession  and  occupation  of  the  land  with  them ;  they 
agreeing  not  to  kill  our  stock,  viz.  :  horses,  cattle,  hogs  or 
sheep,  nor  burn  the  grass  within  the  limits  fixed  by  the  treaty. 
At  the  same  time,  Capt.  Sutter,  myself  and  Isaac  Humphrey 
entered  into  a  copartnership  to  dig  gold.  A  short  time  after- 
wards P.  L.  Weimer  moved  away  from  the  mill,  and  was  away 
two  or  three  months,  when  he  returned.  With  all  the  events 
that  subsequently  occurred,  you  and  the  public  are  well  in- 
formed." 


HISTORY   OF   MINING.  13 

The  above  is  the  most  precise,  and  is  generally  considered 
to  be  the  most  correct  account  of  the  gold  discovery. 

Another  Version.  $  8.  Other  versions  of  the  story 
have  been  published,  however,  and  the  following,  from  an 
article  published  in  the  Coloma  Argus,  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  year  1855,  is  one  of  them.  The  statement  was  evidently 
derived  from  Weimer,  who  lives  at  Coloma  : 

"  That  James  W.  Marshall  picked  up  the  first  piece  of  gold, 
is  beyond  doubt.  Peter  L.  Wimmer,  [Weimer]  who  resides 
in  this  place,  states  positively  that  Mr.  Marshall  picked  up  the 
gold  in  his  presence  ;  they  both  saw  it,  and  each  spoke  at  the 
same  time — <  What's  that  yellow  stuff? '  Marshall  being  a 
step  in  advance,  picked  it  up.  This  first  piece  of  gold  is  now 
in  the  possession  of  Mrs.  Wimmer,  and  weighs  six  penny- 
weights, eleven  grains.  The  piece  was  given  to  her  by  Mar- 
shall himself.  '  *  *  *  The  dam  was  finished  early  in 
January,  the  frame  for  the  mill  also  erected,  and  the  flume  and 
bulkhead  completed.  It  was  at  this  time  that  Marshall  and 
Wimmer  adopted  the  plan  of  raising  the  gate  during  the  night 
to  wash  out  sand  from  the  mill-race,  closing  it  during  the  day, 
when  work  would  be  continued  with  shovels,  etc.  Early  in 
February,  the  exact  day  is  not  remembered,  in  the  morning, 
after  shutting  off  the  water,  Marshall  and  Wimmer  walked 
down  the  race  together  to  see  what  the  water  had  accomplished 
during  the  night.  Having  gone  about  twenty  yards  below 
the  mill,  they  both  saw  the  piece  of  gold  before  mentioned, 
and  Marshall  picked  it  up.  After  an  examination,  the  gold 
was  taken  to  the  cabin  of  Wimmer,  and  Mrs.  W.  instructed 
to  boil  it  in  saleratus  water  ;  but  she  being  engaged  in  making 
soap,  pitched  the  piece  into  the  soap  kettle,  where  it  was  boiled 
all  day  and  all  night.  The  following  morning  the  strange 
piece  of  stuff  was  fished  out  of  the  soap,  all  the  brighter  for  the 
boiling  it  had  received.  Discussion  now  commenced,  and  all 
expressed  the  opinion  that  perhaps  the  yellow  substance  might 
be  gold.  Little  was  said  on  the  subject ;  but  every  one  each 
morning  searched  in  the  race  for  more,  and  every  day  found 
several  small  scales.  The  Indians  also  picked  up  many  small 
thin  pieces,  and  carried  them  always  to  Mrs.  Wimmer.  About 
three  weeks  alter  the  first  piece  was  obtained,  Marshall  took 
the  fine  gold,  amounting  to  between  two  and  three  ounces,  and 
went  below  to  have  the  strange  metal  tested.  On  his  return, 
he  informed  Wimmer  that  the  stuff  was  gold.  All  hands  now 


14  HAND-BOOK   OF  MINING. 

began  to  search  for  '  the  root  of  all  evil.'  Shortly  after,  Cap- 
tain Sutter  came  to  Ooloma,  when  he  and  Marshall  assembled 
the  Indians,  and  bought  of  them  a  large  tract  of  country  about 
Ooloma,  in  exchange  for  a  lot  of  beads  and  a  few  cotton  hand- 
kerchiefs. They,  under  color  of  this  Indian  title,  required  one- 
third  of  all  the  gold  dug  on  their  domain,  and  collected  at  this 
rate  until  the  fall  of  1848,  when  a  mining  party  from  Oregon 
declined  paying  *  tithes,'  as  they  called  it. 

"During  February.  1848,  Marshall  and  \Vimmer  went  down 
the  river  to  Mormon  Island,  and  there  found  scales  of  gold  on 
the  rocks.  Some  weeks  later  they  sent  a  Mr.  Henderson, 
Sydney  Willis  and  Mr.  Fifield,  Mormons,  down  there  to  dig, 
telling  them  that  that  place  was  better  than  Coloma.  These 
were  the  first  miners  at  Mormon  Island." 

Mining  becomes  a  Business.  \  9.  Marshall  was  a 
man  of  an  active,  enthusiastic  mind,  and  he  at  once  attached 
great  importance  to  his  discovery.  His  ideas,  however,  were 
vague  ;  he  knew  nothing  about  gold  mining  ;  he  did  not  know 
how  to  take  advantage  of  what  he  had  found.  Only  an  expe- 
rienced gold  miner  could  understand  the  importance  of  the  dis- 
covery, and  make  it  of  practical  value  to  all  the  world.  That 
gold  miner,  fortunately,  was  near  at  hand  ;  his  name  was  Isaac 
Humphrey.  He  was  residing  in  the  town  of  San  Francisco, 
in  the  month  of  February,  when  a  Mr.  Bennett,  one  of  the 
party  employed  at  Marshall's  mill,  went  down  to  that  place 
with  some  of  the  dust  to  have  it  tested ;  for  it  was  still  a  matter 
of  doubt  whether  this  yellow  metal  really  was  gold.  Bennett 
told  his  errand  to  a  friend  whom  he  met  in  San  Francisco,  and 
this  friend  introduced  him  to  Humphrey,  who  had  been  a  gold 
miner  in  Georgia,  and  was  therefore  competent  to  pass  an  opin- 
ion upon  the  stuff.  Humphrey  looked  at  the  dust,  pronounced 
it  gold  at  the  first  glance,  and  expressed  a  belief  that  the  dig- 
gings must  be  rich.  He  made  inquiries  about  the  place  where 
the  gold  was  found,  and  subsequent  inquiries  about  the  trust- 
worthiness of  Mr.  Bennett,  and  on  the  seventh  of  March  he 
was  at  the  mill.  He  tried  to  induce  several  of  his  friends  in 
San  Francisco  to  FQ  with  him  ;  they  all  thought  his  expedition 
a  foolish  one,  and  he  had  to  go  alone.  He  found  that  there 
was  some  talk  about  the  gold,  and  persons  would  occasionally 
go  about  looking  for  pieces  of  it ;  but  no  one  was  engaged  in 
mining,  and  the  work  of  the  mill  was  going  on  as  usual.  On 


HISTORY   OP   MINING.  15 

the  eighth  he  went  out  prospecting  with  a  pan,  and  satisfied 
himself  that  the  country  in  that  vicinity  was  rich  in  gold.  He 
then  made  a  rocker  and  commenced  the  business  of  washing 
gold,  and  thus  began  the  business  of  mining  in  California. 
Others  saw  how  he  did  it,  followed  his  example,  found  that  the 
work  was  profitable,  and  abandoned  all  other  occupations. 
The  news  of  their  success  spread,  people  flocked  to  the  place, 
learned  how  to  use  the  rocker,  discovered  new  diggings,  and  in 
the  course  of  a  few  months,  the  country  had  been  overturned 
by  a  social  and  industrial  revolution. 

"New  Placers  found.  \  10.  Mr.  Humphrey  had  not 
been  at  work  more  than  three  or  four  days  before  a  French- 
man, called  Baptiste,  who  had  been  a  gold  miner  in  Mexico  for 
many  years,  came  to  the  mill,  and  he  agreed  with  Humphrey 
that  California  was  very  rich  in  gold.  He,  too,  went  to  work, 
and  being  an  excellent  prospecter,  he  was  of  great  service  in 
teaching  the  new-comers  the  principles  of  prospecting  and  min- 
ing for  gold — principles  not  abstruse,  yet  not  likely  to  suggest 
themselves,  at  first  thought,  to  men  entirely  ignorant  of  the 
business.  Baptiste  had  been  employed  by  Capt.  Sutter  to  saw 
lumber  with  a  whip-saw,  and  had  been  at  work  for  two  years 
at  a  place,  since  called  Weber,  about  ten  miles  eastward  from 
Coloma.  When  he  saw  the  diggings  at  the  latter  place,  he  at 
once  said  there  were  rich  mines  where  he  had  been  sawing,  and 
he  expressed  surprise  that  it  had  never  occurred  to  him  before, 
so  experienced  in  gold  mining  as  he  was ;  but  afterwards  he 
said  it  had  been  so  ordered  by  Providence,  that  the  gold  might 
not  be  discovered  until  California  should  be  in  the  hands  of 
the  Americans. 

About  the  middle  of  March,  P.  B.  Eeading,  an  American, 
now  a  prominent  and  wealthy  citizen  of  the  State,  then  the 
owner  of  a  large  ranch  on  the  western  bank  of  the  Sacramento 
river,  near  where  it  issues  from  the  mountains,  came  to  Coloma, 
and  after  looking  about  at  the  diggings,  said  that  if  similarity 
in  the  appearance  of  the  country  could  be  taken  as  a  guide, 
there  must  be  gold  in  the  hills  near  his  ranch  ;  and  he  went  off, 
declaring  his  intention  to  go  back  and  make  an  examination  of 
them.  John  Bidwell,  another  American,  now  a  wealthy  and 
influential  citizen,  then  residing  on  his  ranch  on  the  bank  of 
Feather  river,  came  to  Coloma  about  a  week  later,  and  he  said 
there  must  be  gold  near  his  ranch,  and  he  went  off  with  ex- 


16  HAND-BOOK   OP   MINING. 

pressions  similar  to  those  used  by  Beading.  In  a  few  weeks, 
news  came  that  Reading  had  found  diggings  near  Clear  creek, 
at  the  head  of  the  Sacramento  valley,  and  was  at  work  there 
with  his  Indians  ;  and  not  long  after,  it  was  reported  that  Bid- 
well  was  at  work  with  his  Indians  on  a  rich  bar  of  Feather 
river,  since  called  "  Bidwell's  Bar." 

Newspaper  Reports.  §  11.  Although  Bennett  had 
arrived  at  San  Francisco  in  February  with  some  of  the  dust, 
the  editors  of  the  town — for  two  papers  were  published  in  the 
place  at  the  time — did  not  hear  of  the  discovery  till  some 
weeks  later.  The  first  published  notice  of  the  gold  was  given 
in  tke  Californian,  (published  in  San  Francisco)  on  the  fif- 
teenth of  March,  as  follows  : 

"  GOLD  MINE  FOUND, — In  the  newly  made  race-way  of  the 
saw  mill  recently  erected  by  Captain  S  utter,  on  the  American 
Fork,  gold  has  been  found  in  considerable  quantities.  One 
person  brought  thirty  dollars'  worth  to  New  Helvetia,  gath- 
ered there  in  a  short  time.  California,  no  doubt,  is  rich  in 
mineral  wealth ;  great  chances  here  for  scientific  capitalists. 
Cold  has  been  found  in  almost  every  part  of  the  country." 

Three  days  later,  the  California,  Star,  the  rival  paper,  gave 
the  following  account  of  the  discovery  : 

"  We  were  informed  a  few  days  since,  that  a  very  valuable 
silver  mine  was  situated  in  the  vicinity  of  this  place,  and  again, 
that  its  locality  was  known.  Mines  of  quicksilver  are  being 
found  all  over  the  country.  Gold  has  been  discovered  in  the 
northern  Sacramento  districts,  about  forty  miles  above  Suiter's 
Fort.  Rich  mines  of  copper  are  said  to  exist  north  of  these 
bays." 

Although  these  articles  were  written  two  months  after  the 
discovery,  it  is  evident  that  the  editors  had  heard  only  vague 
rumors,  and  attached  little  importance  to  them.  The  Star  of 
the  twenty-fifth  of  March,  says  : 

"  So  great  is  the  quantity  of  gold  taken  from  the  new  mine 
recently  found  at  New  Helvetia,  that  it  has  become  an  article 
of  traffic  in  that  vicinity." 

None  of  the  gold  had  been  seen  in  San  Francisco ;  but  at 
Slitter's  Fort,  men  had  begun  to  buy  and  sell  with  it. 

The  next  number  of  the  Star,  bearing  date  April  1st,  1848, 
contained  an  article  several  columns  long,  written  by  Dr.  V.  J. 
Fourgeaud,  on  the  resources  of  California.  He  devoted  about 


HISTORY   OP   MINING.  17 

•• 

a  column  to  the  minerals1,  and  in  the  course  of  his  remarks, 
said  : 

"  It  would  be  utterly  impossible  at  present  rto  make  a  cor- 
rect estimate  of  the  mineral  wealth  of  California.  Popular 
attention  has  been  but  lately  directed  to  it.  But  the  discover- 
ies that  have  already  been  made,  will  warrant  us  in  the  asser- 
tion that  California  is  one  of  the  richest  mineral  countries  in 
the  world.  Gold,  silver,  quicksilver,  iron,  copper,  lead,  sulphur, 
saltpetre  and  other  mines  of  great  value  have  already  been 
found.  We  saw  a  few  days  ago  a  beautiful  specimen  of  .gold 
from  the  mine  newly  discovered  on  the  American  Fork.  From 
all  accounts  the  mine  is  immensely  rich,  and  already  we  learn 
the  gold  from  it,  collected  at  random  and  without  any  trouble, 
has  become  an  article  of  trade  at  the  upper  settlements.  -This 
precious  metal  abounds  in  this  country.  We  have  heard  of 
several  other  newly  discovered  mines  of  gold,  but  as  these  re- 
ports are  not  yet  authenticated,  we  shall  pass  over  them.  How- 
ever, it  is  well  known  that  there  is  a  placero  of  gold  a  few 
miles  from  the  ciudad  de  Los  Angeles,  and  another  on  the  San 
Joaquin." 

It  was  not  until  more  than  three  months  after  Marshall's 
discovery,  that  the  San  Francisco  papers  stated  that  gold  min- 
ing had  become  a  regular  and  profitable  business  in  the  new 
placers.  The  Californian  of  April  26th,  said  : 

"  GOLD  MINES  OF  THE  SACRAMENTO. — From  a  gentleman 
just  from  the  gold  region,  we  learn  that  many  new  discoveries 
have  very  recently  been  made,  and  it  is  fully  ascertained  that  a 
large  extent  of  country  abounds  with  that  precious  mineral. 
Seven  men,  with  picks  and  spades,  gather  $1,600  worth  in  fif- 
teen days.  Many  persons  are  settling  on  the  lands  with  the 
view  of  holding  preemptions,  but  as  yet  every  person  takes  the 
right  to  gather  all  they  can,  without  any  regard  to  claims. 
The  largest  piece  yet  found  is  worth  six  dollars." 

Rush  to  the  Mines.  §  12.  The  news  spread,  men 
came  from  all  the  settled  parts  of  the  territory,  and  as  they 
came  they  went  to  work  mining,  and  gradually  they  moved 
further  and  further  from  Coloma,  and  before  the  rainy  season 
had  commenced  (in  December)  miners  were  washing  rich  aurif 
erous  dirt  all  along  the  western  slope  of  the  Sierra  Nevada, 
from  the  Feather  to  the  Tuolumne  river,  a  distance  of  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles,  and  also  over  a  space  of  about  fifteen 


18  HAND-BOOK    OP   MINING. 

miles  square,  near  the  place  now  known  as  the  town  of 
Shasta,  in  the,^  Coast  mountains,  at  the  head  of  the  Sacramento 
valley.  The  whole  country  had  been  turned  topsy-turvy  ;  towns 
had  been  deserted,  or  left  only  to  the  women  and  children ; 
fields  had  been  left  unreaped  ;  herds  of  cattle  went  without  any 
one  to  care  for  them.  But  gold  mining,  which  had  become  the 
great  interest  of  the  country,  was  not  neglected.  The  people 
learned  rapidly  and  worked  hard.  In  the  latter  part  of  1848, 
adventurers  began  to  arrive  from  Oregon,  the  Sandwich  Islands 
and  Mexico.  The  winter  found  the  miners  with  very  little 
preparation,  but  most  of  them  were  accustomed  to  a  rough 
mode  of  life  in  the  western  wilds,  and  they  considered  their 
large  profits  an  abundant  compensation  for  their  privations  and 
hardships.  The  weather  was  so  mild  in  December  and  Jan- 
uary, that  they  could  work  almost  as  well  as  in  the  summer, 
and  the  rain  gave  them  facilities  for  washing  such  as  they  could 
not  have  in  the  dry  season. 

Excitement  in  the  States.  §  13.  In  September, 
1848,  the  first  rumors  of  the  gold  discovery  began  to  reach 
New  York ;  in  October  they  attracted  attention ;  in  Novem- 
ber people  looked  with  interest  for  new  reports  ;  in  December 
the  news  gained  general  credence  and  a  great  excitement  arose. 
Preparations  were  made  for  a  migration  to  California  by  some- 
body in  nearly  every  town  in  the  United  States.  The  great 
body  of  the  emigrants  went  either  across  tbe  plains  with  ox  or 
mule  teams,  or  round  Cape  Horn  in  sailing  vessels.  A  few 
took  passage  in  the  steamer  by  way  of  Panama.  Not  less 
.than  one  hundred  thousand  men,  representing  in  their  nativity 
every  State  in  the  Union,  went  to  California  that  year.  Of 
these,  twenty  thousand  crossed  the  continent  by  way  of  the 
South  Pass ;  and  nearly  all  of  them  started  from  the  Missouri 
river  between  Independence  and  St.  Joseph's,  in  the  month  of 
May.  They  formed  an  army  ;  in  day  time  their  trains  filled  up 
the  road  for  miles,  and  at  night  their  camp-fires  glittered  in 
every  direction  about  the  places  blessed  with  grass  and  water. 
The  excitement  continued  during  '50,  '51,  '52  and  '53  ;  emi- 
grants continued  to  come  by  land  and  sea,  from  Europe  and 
America,  and  in  the  last  named  year  from  China  also.  In  1854 
the  migration  fell  off,  and  since  that  time  California  has  re- 
ceived the  chief  accessions  to  her  white  population  by  the 
Panama  steamers. 


HISTORY   OF    MINING.  19 

Excitement  in  Europe.  \  14.  The  whole  world  felt 
a  beneficent  influence  from  the  great  gold  yield  of  the  Sacra- 
mento basin.  Labor  rose  in  value,  and  industry  was  stimu- 
lated from  St.  Louis  to  Constantinople.  The  news,  however, 
was  not  welcome  to  all  classes.  Many  of  the  capitalists  feared 
that  gold  would  soon  be  so  abundant  as  to  be  worthless,  and 
European  statesmen  feared  the  power  to  be  gained  by  the  arro- 
gant and  turbulent  democracy  of  the  New  World. 

The  author  of  a  book,  entitled  Notes  on  the  Gold  Districts, 
published  in  London  in  1853,  thus  speaks  of  the  fears  excited 
in  Europe  on  the  first  great  influx  of  gold  from  the  California!! 
mines : 

"  Among  the  many  extraordinary  incidents  connected  with 
the  Californian  discoveries,  was  the  alarm  communicated  to 
many  classes,  which  was  not  confined  to  individuals,  but  in- 
vaded governments.  The  first  announcement  spread  alarm ; 
but  as  the  cargoes  of  gold  rose  from  $100,000  to  $1.000,000, 
bankers  and  financiers  began  seriously  to  prepare  for  an  ex- 
pected crisis.  In  England  and  the  United  States  the  panic 
was  confined  to  a  few  ;  but  on  the  continent  of  Europe  every 
government,  rich  or  poor,  thought  it  needful  to  make  provision 
against  the  threatened  evils.  An  immediate  alteration  in  prices 
was  looked  for ;  money  was  to  become  so  abundant  that  all 
ordinary  commodities  were  to  rise,  but  more  especially  the  pro- 
portion between  gold  and  silver  was  to  be  disturbed,  some 
thinking  that  the  latter  might  become  the  dearer  metal.  The 
governments  of  France,  Holland  and  Russia,  in  particular, 
turned  their  attention  to  the  monetary  question,  and  in  1850 
the  government  of  Holland  availed  themselves  of  a  law,  which 
had  not  before  been  put  in  operation,  to  take  immediate  steps 
for  selling  off  the  gold  in  the  Bank  of  Amsterdam,  at  what 
they  supposed  to  be  the  then  highest  prices,  and  to  stock  them- 
selves with  silver.  Palladium,  which  is  likewise  a*  superior 
white  metal,  was  held  more  firmly,  and  expectations  were 
entertained  that  it  would  become  available  for  plating.  The 
stock,  however,  is  small.  The  silver  operation  was  carried  on 
concurrent  with  a  supply  of  bullion  to  Eussia  for  a  loan ;  a 
demand  for  silver  in  Austria,  and  for  shipment  to  India,  and  it 
did  really  produce  an  effect  on  the  silver  market,  which  many 
mistook  for  the  influence  of  California.  The  particular  way 
in  which  the  Netherlands  operations  were  carried  on,  was 
especially  calculated  to  produce  the  greatest  disturbance  of 


20  HAND-BOOK    OF    MINING. 

prices.  The  ten  florin  pieces  were  sent  to  Paris,  coined  there 
into  Napoleons,  and  silver  five  franc  pieces  drawn  out  in  their 
place.  At  Paris,  the  premium  on  gold,  in  a  few  months,  fell 
from  nearly  two  per  cent,  to  a  discount,  and  at  Hamburg  a 
like  fall  took  place.  In  London,  the  great  silver  market,  silver 
rose  between  the  autumn  and  the  new  year,  from  five  shillings 
per  ounce  to  five  shillings  one  and  five-eighths  pence  per  ounce, 
and  Mexican  dollars  from  four  shillings  ten  and  one-halfpence  to 
four  shillings  eleven  and  five-eighths  pence  per  ounce  ;  nor  did 
prices  recover  until  towards  the  end  of  the  year  1851,  when 
the  fall  was  as  sudden  as  the  rise." 

Discovery  of  New  Districts.  J  15.  In  the  spring 
of  1849,  Heading  crossed  the  Coast  Kange  with  a  party  of  his 
Indians,  and  discovered  rich  diggings  in  the  valley  of  the  Trin- 
ity. In  the  summer  of  the  same  year,  Col.  Fremont  discov- 
ered the  mines  on  his  ranch  in  the  valley  of  the  Mariposa.  The 
next  year,  the  diggings  in  the  Klamath  and  Scott  valleys  were 
opened ;  and  since  that  time  no  rich  and  extensive  gold  bear- 
ing district  has  been  discovered  in  the  State,  although  paying 
diggings  have  been  found  in  a  number  of  places.  In  the  fall 
of  1854,  the  diggings  in  the  valley  of  Kern  river  were  found, 
and  h>  1857  those  of  Mono  Lake,  Walker's  river  and  San 
Gabriel.  Each  of  these  places  has  a  distinct  mining  district, 
where  a  few  hundred  miners  are  usually  at  work. 

The  gold  diggings  in  the  valley  of  Rogue  river,  Oregon, 
where  a  large  number  of  men  are  now  employed,  were  found  in 
1852  ;  the  mines  of  Carson  Valley,  in  Utah,  in  the  same  year ; 
those  at  Colville,  in  Washington  territory,  in  1853  ;  those  of 
the  Yakima  valley,  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Cascade  moun- 
tains in  the  same  territory,  in  1854  ;  and  those  of  Fraser  river 
in  1858.  The  silver  mines  of  Arizona  had  been  known  for 
more  than  a  century  before  the  Americans  purchased  that  dis- 
trict. The  business  of  mining  there  was  commenced  by  Amer- 
ican companies  in  1856.  The  silver  mines  of  Washoe  were 
discovered  in  1859,  and  those  of  Esrneralda  and  Coso,  further 
south,  in  1860. 

Wumber  of  Miners.  §  16.  At  the  end  of  the  year 
1848,  there  were  probably  five  thousand  miners  at  work  in  the 
gold  diggings  of  California,  a  year  later  forty  thousand,  in  the 
latter  part  of  1850  fifty  thousand,  and  now  there  may  be  a 


HISTORY    OF    MINING.  21 

hundred  thousand.  Besides  the  one  hundred  thousand  miners 
in  California"  there  are  probably  five  thousand  in  Washoe, 
three  thousand  in  Oregon,  fifteen  hundred  in  British  Columbia, 
five  hundred  in  Washington  territory,  five  hundred  in  Esme- 
ralda  and  three  hundred  in  Arizona. 

Wages  of  the  Miners.  §  17.  The  diggings  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  Coloma  were  not  very  rich  as  compared 
with  those  in  many  other  places  in  California,  but  the  miners 
made  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  dollars  a  day  each,  with  the 
rocker.  Those  who  were  the  first  to  get  to  work  on  the  rich 
bars  of  the  North  Fork  of  the  American,  Yuba,  Feather, 
Stanislaus  and  Trinity  rivers,  and  numerous  brooks  and  gul- 
lies, often  made  from  five  hundred  to  five  thousand  dollars  in  a 
day,  and  an  average  of  from  three  to  .five  hundred  dollars  a  day 
for  weeks  at  a  time,  was  no  rarity  in  '48  and  '49.  The  aver- 
age amount,  however,  dug  per  day,  could  not  safety  be  put  at 
over  twenty  dollars  at  any  time  ;  though  prudent,  industrious 
miners,  who  were  content  to  make  that  much,  usually  averaged 
much  more  in  ?48.  There  were  many  places  where  the  gold 
was  evenly  distributed,  and  in  these  the  pay  was  regular  but 
seldom  large.  In  other  places  the  distribution  was  irregular, 
and  in  those  the  miner  might  dig  a  hundred  ounces-one  day, 
and  find  nothing  for  a  week  after.  The  average  amount  ob- 
tained by  miners  in  the  gold  mines  of  California,  gradually 
decreased  from  twenty  dollars  per  day  in  1848  to  five  dollars 
in  1853,  and  three  dollars  in  1860. 

Character  of  Claims.  §  18.  From  the  spring  of  1848 
until  1851,  nearly  all  the  mining  was  done  in  river  bars,  and  in 
small  ravines ;  the  former  called  "  wet  diggings,"  and  the  latter 
"  dry  diggings,"  which  two  classes  included  all  the  /nines  then 
worked.  In  1851,  the  miners  began  to  work  at  the  hills,  flats 
and  quartz  veins.  Gradually  the  river  bars  and  ravines  grew 
poorer,  until  now  they  do  not  supply  more  than  one-sixth  of 
the  gold  yield  of  the  State,  and  the  distinction  between  "  wet" 
and  "  dry  "  diggings  has  been  forgotten.  At  first  all  the  dig- 
gings were  shallow  ;  previous  to  1852,  it  was  rare  to  find  any 
one  mining  more  than  ten  feet  below  the  surface  of  the  earth  ; 
now  thousands  are  regularly  employed  in  tunnels  and  shafts  and 
hydraulic  claims,  a  hundred  ieet  or  more  below  the  original 
surface  of  the  earth. 


22  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

Mining  Implements.  $19.  In  1848  tlje  miners  be- 
gan to  work  with  the  pan  and  the  rocker  ;  the  next  year  they 
introduced  the  quicksilver  machine,  and  in  1850  the  torn.  In 
this  latter  year  also,  they  commenced  to  flume  rivers  and  to 
make  extensive  ditches.  In  1851  they  invented  the  sluice,  and 
the  subsequent  year  used  the  hydraulic  process  of  tearing  down 
banks  and  hills.  Nevada  county  has  the  credit  of  being  the 
place  where  the  torn  was  first  used,  and  the  sluice  invented  and 
where  the  ditch  and  hydraulic  process  were  first  introduced. 
The  names  of  the  individual  originators  of  the  sluice  and  ditch 
are  not  on  record,  so  far  as  I  know,  but  Edward  E.  Matteson, 
a  native  of  Sterling,  Connecticut,  was  the  inventor  of  hy- 
draulic mining.  Nineteen-twentieths  of  the  placer  gold  now 
dug  in  California  is  obtained  with  the  assistance  of  the  torn, 
sluice,  ditch  and  hydraulic ;  and  if  our  miners  were  now  re- 
stricted to  the  instruments  and  processes  used  in  1849,  they 
would  not  produce  more  than  $5,000,000  instead  of  $50,000,- 
000  per  year.  The  Californian  inventions  in  gold  mining  have 
not  only  been  of  immense  importance  to  the  development  of 
the  mineral  wealth  of  this  State,  but  must,  in  time,  exert  a 
strong  influence  elsewhere.  We  know  that  no  district  contain- 
ing extensive  placer  diggings,  could  ever  be  "  worked  out " 
without  the  assistance  of  such  processes  as  these  here  invented  ; 
and,  therefore,  many  a  placer  heretofore  deserted,  because  profit- 
less under  the  old  modes  of  working,  will  hereafter  be  occupied 
again,  and  probably  be  made  to  pay  better  than  ever  before. 
Time  and  experience  will  prove  the  correctness  of  this  view. 

Mining  Excitements.  §  20.  There  have  been  a  num- 
ber of  excitements  in  California,  about  rich  diggings  reported 
to  exist  in  places  not  previously  occupied  by  miners.  In  some 
of  these  cases,  the  reports  of  auriferous  wealth  were  entirely 
without  foundation ;  in  others,  there  was  some  foundation  in 
truth  for  the  reports,  but  nothing  to  justify  the  great  excite- 
ment. A  historical  sketch  of  mining  in  California,  would  not 
be  complete  without  a  mention  of  these  mining  excitements, 
and  the  "  rushes  "  of  the  miners  to  these  new  El  Dorados. 

The  Greenwood  Rush,  g  21.  The  first  rush  of  this 
kind,  though  but  a  small  one  as  compared  with  those  of  sub- 
sequent years,  took  place  in  June,  1849,  at  the  instigation 
of  a  mountaineer  named  Greenwood,  who  told  the  miners  at 


HISTORY    OP   MINING.  23 

Coloma  that  he  had  some  years  before  seen  an  abundance  of 
gold  at  Truckee  Lake,  though  at  the  time  he  did  not  know 
what  the  substance  was.  Several  hundred  men  went  to  get 
the  precious  metal  which  Greenwood  had  seen,  but  at  the  end 
of  six  or  seven  weeks  they  returned  tattered  and  destitute, 
without  any  of  the  gold,  though  they  had  found  the  place 
where  it  was  supposed  to  be. 

Gold  Lake,  {j  22.  The  next  rush,  and  a  very  remark- 
able one,  was  made  in  May,  1850,  to  Gold  Lake,  where  it  was 
asserted  that  gold  was  very  abundant.  This  lake  is  a  beautiful 
little  sheet  of  water  north-eastward  from  the  present  site  of 
Downieville.  The  origin  of  the  excitement  is  accounted  for  in 
different  ways,  but  the  story  which  has  most  probabilities  in 
its  favor,  is  that  a  miner  named  Stoddard  overheard  a  couple 
of  others  talking  about  a  lake  where  gold  was  to  be  found  by 
the  ton  lying  loose  on  the  bank.  Stoddard,  supposing  the 
place  to  be  Gold  Lake,  commenced  the  next  day,  to  tell  about 
it  as  if  he  had  seen  it,  and  as  he  believed  it  sincerely,  and  was 
making  preparations  to  go,  others  believed  too,  and  a  rush  fol- 
lowed. Thousands  of  miners  deserted  claims  where  they  were 
making  from  twenty  dollars  to  forty  dollars  per  day.  to  go  to 
this  lake  where  they  hoped  to  get,  within  a  few  weeks,  all  the 
gold  they  could  want.  After  several  months  of  searching,  the 
Gold  Lake  prospectors  returned  without  having  found  anything 
to  reward  their  toils  and  sacrifices. 

Gold  Bluff.  I  23.  In  the  beginning  of  January,  1851, 
a  great  excitement  broke  out  in  California  about  the  gold 
mines  on  the  ocean  beach  at  Gold  Bluff,  in  latitude  41  deg.  25 
min.,  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  miles  northward  from  San 
Francisco.  The  following  extract  from  an  editorial  article  in 
the  Alta  California  of  the  ninth  of  January,  '51,  is  a  sample 
of  the  reports  brought  from  those  wonderful  mines  while  the 
fever  was  at  its  height : 

"A  NEW  EL  DORADO. — *  *  *  Twenty-seven  miles  beyond 
the  Trinity  there  is  a  beach  several  miles  in  extent  and  bounded 
by  a  high  bluff.  The  sands  of  this  beach  are  mixed  with  gold 
to  an  extent  almost  beyond  belief.  *  *  The  gold  is  mixed 
with  the  black  sand  in  proportions  of  from  ten  cents  to  ten 
dollars  the  pound.  *  *  *  Mr.  [John  A.]  Collins,  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Pacific  Mining  Company,  measured  a  patch  of 


24  HAND-BOOK    OF    MINING. 

gold  and  sand,  and  estimates  it  will  yield  to  each  member  of 
the  company  the  snug  little  sum  of  $43,000,000,  and  this  esti- 
mate is  formed  upon  a  calculation  that  the  sand  holds  out  to 
be  one-tenth  as  rich  as  observation  warrants  them  in  supposing. 
Mr.  Collins  saw  a  man  who  had  accumulated  50,000  pounds, 
or  50,000  tons — he  did  not  recollect  which — of  the  richest 
kind  of  black  sand.  Gen.  [John]  Wilson  says  that  thousands 
of  men  cannot  exhaust  this  gold  in  thousands  of  years." 

The  Alta  of  the  next  day  (January  10th)  gives  a  letter  from 
M.  C.  Thompson  to  John  A.  Collins,  in  which  the  writer, 
dating  "  Trinity  county,  January  1st,  1851,"  says  : 

"  Some  six  months  since,  I  saw  large  patches,  the  entire 
length  of  the  beach,  covered  with  black  sand,  literally  yellow 
with  small,  thin  flakes  of  gold." 

Mr.  Thompson  made  affidavit  of  the  truth  of  this  statement 
before  L.  P.  Gilky,  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  C.  W.  Kinsey 
also  deposed  to  its  truth. 

The  same  paper  also  contains  an  extract  from  a  letter  writ- 
ten by  E.  A.  Rowe,  on  the  first  of  January,  then  a  Constable 
in  Trinity  county,  to  J.  A.  Collins,  as  follows  : 

"  I  have  seen  enough  in  one  plat  of  sand,  containing  enough 
of  gold  to  yield  from  three  dollars  to  ten  dollars  per  pound,  to 
load  a  ship  of  the  largest  class.  *  *  *  I  am  now,  how- 
ever, confident  that  with  the  proper  arrangements  for  amalga- 
mating the  gold,  on  a  scale  as  extensive  as  your  company  is 
capable  of  doing,  millions  upon  millions  of  dollars  can  be  easily 
obtained  every  year,  for  more  than  a  century  to  come." 

Mr.  Eowe  made  affidavit  before  the  same  Justice  Gilky  to 
the  truth  of  his  statements  in  this  letter.  The  Alfa  of  the 
succeeding  day — the  eleventh  of  January — contains  the  adver- 
tisements of  eight  vessels  to  sail  for  Eed  Bluff.  At  that  time, 
so  little  was  known  about  the  distribution  of  gold,  and  the 
metal  was  so  abundant,  and  such  marvellous  fortunes  were 
being  made  by  so  many  people,  that  nobody  knew  what  to 
believe  or  disbelieve  about  such  stories.  A  wonderful  fever 
rose  ;  everybody  wanted  to  go  to  Gold  Bluff;  but,  fortunately, 
the  bubble  bursted  in  a  few  days — so  soon,  in  fact,  that  few 
persons  had  time  to  get  started  for  the  new  El  Dorado.  Since 
then,  Gold  Bluff  has  been  one  of  our  biggest  gold  humbugs. 

Yet  Gold  Bluff  was  not  all  humbug.  There  really  was  much 
gold  in  the  sands  of  the  beach,  and  many  miners  have  done 
well  in  washing  for  it.  The  bluffs  along  the  beach  from  Trin- 


HISTORY    OP    MINING.  25 

idad  to  Port  Orford,  bear  resemblance  to  the  auriferous  hills 
of  Nevada  county,  which  are  now  being  washed  away  by  the 
hydraulic  process.  Along  the  beach  a  natural  hydraulic  wash- 
ing has  been  in  progress  for  thousands  of  years. 

Second  Gold  Lake.  \  24.  In  the  summer  of  1851, 
there  was  an  excitement  at  Downieville  about  another  Gold 
Lake,  reported  to  be  rich.  The  main  witness  to  the  auriferous 
wealth  of  this  place  was  a  Canadian  named  Deloreaux,  who 
became  the  guide  of  a  party.  One  of  them,  in  an  account  of 
the  expedition  published  in  the  San  Andreas  Independent, 
wrote  thus : 

"  The  first  difficulty  that  presented  itself  to  our  minds  was 
how  we  should  transport  our  gold  from  the  diggings.  It  was 
finally  settled  that  six  of  the  party  should  take  all  the  mules, 
packed  with  gold,  and  deposit  the  same  with  Uncle  Sam,  and, 
returning,  bring  us  a  fresh  supply  of  grub.  You  smile,  dear 
reader,  at  the  magnificent  folly  of  the  conceit,  but  be  assured 
that  it  is  not  exaggerated  in  this  narrative.  The  common 
opinion  of  those  times  was  that  the  great  fountains  of  our 
golden  wealth  were  hidden  amid  the  crags  and  solitudes  of  the 
snow-belt,  where,  guarded  by  wild  beasts  and  savage  men, 
they  were  only  to  be  reached  by  the  most  fearless  and  iron- 
souled  adventurers.  This  was  the  fascinating  theory  that 
gilded  the  distant  horizon  of  the  forty-niner,  lent  a  charm  to 
the  roughest  life,  and  softened  his  rocky  couch,  as  nightly  he 
wrapped  his  tattered  blankets  around  his  shivering  frame,  and 
lay  down  to  dream  of  the  golden  future.  The  stories  of  the 
Arabian  Nights  were  to  be  divested  of  their  romantic  extrav- 
agance somewhere  in  the  mountains  of  California,  and  every 
heart  was  nerved  to  boldness  to  be  among  those  to  share  the 
fruits  of  first  discovery.  The  physician  forgot  his*  agonizing 
patient,  the  lawyer  laid  aside  his  brief,  the  minister  forgot  alike 
his  God  and  his  flock,  to  join  in  the  hot  pursuit  of  mammon. 

"  Returning  to  our  party.  It  was  amusing  to  hear  the  argu- 
ments as  to  '  how  many  dollars  a  mule  could  pack  ; '  and  the 
offers  of  each  to  bet  on  his  favorite.  One  of  the  party  pro- 
posed to  bet  that  his  mule — a  little,  short-backed  institution, 
which  was  captured  by  one  of  Col.  Donophan's  boys  at  the 
battle  of  Sacramento,  and  then  a  quarter  of  a  century  old — 
could  pack  $150,000  !  That  bet  was  taken  by  this  writer.  It 
has  not  yet  been  decided.  During  the  discussion  of  these 


26  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

important  matters,  an  overgrown  chap  from  Maine  suggested 
that  we  were  counting  our  fish  before  they  were  caught. 
Audacious  wretch !  He  was  forthwith  voted  a  '  muggins  and 
disorganize!' '  for  entertaining  any  doubts  upon  the  subject. 
We  had  more  faith  than  it  requires  to  save  sinners  at  a  camp 
meeting.  We  followed  the  trapper  for  eight  days,  over  the 
roughest  and  wildest  part  of  California,  when,  overcome  with 
fatigue,  we  came  to  a  halt  and  camped.  The  guide,  after  some 
time,  informed  us  that  we  had  taken  the  wrong  '  divide,'  but 
that  we  could  right  ourselves  by  crossing  a  very  bad  canon. 
Our  suspicions  wrere  aroused,  and  some  of  the  less  sanguine  did 
not  hesitate  to  murmur  against  the  alleged  treachery  of  Delo- 
reaux.  We  kept  our  secret,  however,  and  putting  on  a  willing 
face,  readily  consented  to  the  proposition  to  try  the  canon. 

"  Next  day  we  recommenced  our  line  of  march  ;  but  after 
travelling  all  day  we  found  no  canon.  That  night  we  had  a 
'  talk '  with  the  trapper,  who  began  to  if  and  and  about  it,  and 
plainly  told  us  that  we  '  had  better  prospect  the  country  around 
us.'  Thereupon,  some  of  the  party  gave  vent  to  their  rage, 
telling  him  that  they  would  '  shoot  the  top  of  his  head  oft''  if 
he  had  deceived  us  ;  but  he  swore  to  the  truth  of  his  first  state- 
ment, and  that  he  would  take  us  to  the  lake  in  two  days.  We 
laid  down  that  night  with  our  spirits  sadly  vacillating  between 
hope  and  fear.  In  the  morning  our  gentle,  candid  Deloreaux 
1  came  up  missing.'  " 

Most  of  the  party,  after  spending  weeks  in  the  mountains, 
returned  to  the  mines  in  a  very  destitute  condition,  but  others 
succeeded  in  finding  the  very  rich  diggings  about  the  place 
now  known  as  Forest  City,  in  Sierra  county. 

In  August,  1853,  there  was  some  excitement  about  mines  in 
Santa  Cruz  county  on,  the  ranch  of  Don  Pedro  Sainsevain, 
and  a  great  many  persons  went  thither ;  but  they  found  little 
gold,  and  the  place  was  soon  deserted  again. 

Australia.  §  25.  Well  authenticated  reports  of  the  dis- 
covery of  gold  in  Australia  arrived  in  Calfornia,  but  they 
created  little  excitement ;  and  although  during  '52  and  '58  a 
thousand  persons  or  more  left  California  for  the  colony  of  Vic- 
toria, their  departure  was  so  silent  and  gradual  as  scarcely  to 
be  noticed. 

Peru,  g  26.  In  February,  1854,  a  great  excitement  arose 
about  gold  mines  in  Peru.  The  newspapers  at  Panama  pub- 


HISTORY   OF   MINING..  27 

lished  a  number  of  articles  and  letters,  to  the  effect  that  gold 
mines  of  unparalled  richness  had  been  opened  on  the  head 
waters  of  the  Amazon.  It  was  said  that  many  miners  were 
at  work  there,  and  that  they  could  dig  twenty-five  pounds  a 
day  to  the  man  without  difficulty.  Such  statements,  repeated 
time  after  time,  purporting  to  come  from  a  number  of  different 
sources,  and  republished  in  the  California  and  Australian 
papers,  induced  about  2,000  miners  to  go  from  California  and 
Australia  to  Peru,  where  they  found  that  nobody  knew  of  any 
such  gold  mines  in  the  country  as  had  been  spoken  of  by  the 
Panama  papers.  Some  of  the  adventurers  went  over  to  the 
head  waters  of  the  Amazon,  and  they  found  the  "  color,"  but 
that  was  all. 

Small  Rushes.  §  27.  About  the  same  time  with  the 
excitement  in  regard  to  the  gold  mines  in  Peru,  there  was  a 
report  of  rich  diggings  at  Santa  Anita,  in  Los  Angeles  county. 
Many  persons  went  there,  but  soon  left  in  disgust. 

In  April,  1854,  there  was  a  rush  to  new  mines  on  Russian 
river,  in  Sonoma  county.  About  a  thousand  persons  were 
April-fooled  into  a  visit  to  that  place. 

In  May,  of  the  same  year,  there  was  a  rumor  of  a  gold  dis- 
covery on  the  side  of  Mount  Diablo,  in  Contra  Costa  county, 
and  many  went  to  see. 

Kern  River.  $  28.  In  February  and  March,  1855,  the 
Kern  river  fever  afflicted  the  State.  Diggings,  which  paid 
pretty  well  in  a  few  spots,  had  been  found,  and  it  was  reported 
that  they  were  very  extensive  and  as  rich  as  those  of  the  Sac- 
ramento Valley  in  1849.  The  towns  of  Stockton  and  Los 
Angeles  were  especially  interested  in  having  people  to  go  to 
Kern  river,  because  they  had  all  the  trade  of  that  place  ;  and 
their  newspapers  accordingly  were  filled  with  glowing  accounts 
of  the  richness  of  the  mines.  The  following  are  extracts  from 
published  letters  purporting  to  have  been  written  at  the  mines : 

"  Wherever  the  miner's  pick  has  been  struck,  and  good  pros- 
pect made,  gold  has  been  discovered.  In  many  places  it  is 
exceedingly  rich,  vieing  well  with  the  miraculous  stories  of 
'49,  and  yielding  quite  as  liberally.  The  process  of  obtaining 
the  gold,  at  present,  is  confined  wholly  to  toms,  for  the  want  of 
lumber.  Miners  are  making  from  sixteen  dollars  to  sixty  dol- 
lars a  day  by  the  use  of  the  torn,  and  much  larger  amounts 
would  be  obtained,  but  for  the  want  of  water.  There  is  no 


28  HAND-BOOK    OF    MINING. 

question  that  the  mines  are  very  rich ;  and  these  gentleman 
are  of  the  opinion  that  they  are  much  richer  than  any  ever 
yet  discovered  in  California.  Great  numbers  from  Mariposa 
county  are  flocking  thither ;  and  many  of  the  ranches  in  the 
San  Joaquin  valley  arc  being  deserted,  the  owners  of  the  same 
all  bound  to  the  new  diggings. 

"  I  found  on  my  arrival  at  Greenhorn  Gulch,  where  the  first 
discovery  was  made,  all  the  miners  were  very  busy  at  work  on 
their  claims,  which  were  paying  very  well,  ranging  from  eight 
to  fifty  dollars  per  day.  Claims  could  not  be  bought  unless  at 
very  extravagant  prices.  The  day  of  my  arrival,  one  party  of 
two,  at  the  head  of  the  gulch,  took  out  fifty  dollars ;  but  as 
they  had  been  making  from  two  to  three  ounces  daily  since 
they  commenced  working  their  claim,  to  them  it  was  but  a 
common  occurrence.  Another  party,  lower  down,  on  the  same 
day,  made  an  ounce  to  the  man  ;  and  a  party  at  the  mouth  of 
the  gulch,  consisting  of  four  men,  took  out  one  hundred  dollars. , 
The  entire  gulch  is  already  taken  up,  and  by  a  few  men  only, 
each  one  being  allowed  two  hundred  feet.  New  comers  go 
about  fifteen  miles  higher  up,  where  they  are  making  from  eight 
to  sixteen  dollars  per  day.  It  is  reported  at  the  gulch,  and 
tirmly  believed,  that  a  party  of  five  or  six,  about  forty  miles 
higher  up  in  the  mountains,  have  been  making  one  hundred 
dollars  a  day  to  the  man  for  the  last  month." 

A  great  excitement  prevailed.  Five  thousand  persons  went 
to  Kern  river.  The  industry  of  the  State  was  seriously  dis- 
turbed. Farmers  abandoned  their  homes,  miners  their  claims, 
and  mechanics  their  shops,  hoping  to  make  fortunes  in  a  few 
months  at  Kern  river.  On  reaching  that  place,  they  found 
that  the  mining  district  was  a  very  small  one ;  that  the  rich 
claims  had  been  exhausted  in  a  few  weeks,  and  that  the  best 
thing  they  could  do  would  be  to  return  home. 

Sacramento  and  Oakland.  f  29.  In  June,  1855, 
some  gold  was  found  on  the  bank  of  the  Sacramento  river  a 
few  miles  below  Sacramento  City,  and  some  seven  hundred 
dollars  were  washed  out  in  a  couple  of  days  by  four  or  five 
men.  There  was  a  great  rush  to  stake  off  claims ;  but  the 
excitement  died  out  in  a  few  days  more,  in  consequence  of  the 
discovery  that  all  the  gold  in  these  diggings  had  come  from  a 
pair  of  trousers  belonging  to  a  miner  who  had  lived  there  in 
1849. 


HISTORY    OF    MINING.  29 

In  January,  1856,  there  was  a  rumor  of  rich  diggings  in  the 
plain  east  of  Oakland,  and  a  multitude  of  claims  were  staked 
off  and  a  few  holes  dug,  but  little  or  no  gold  was  found,  and 
the  claims  were  soon  deserted. 

The  Fraser  Fever.  §  30.  In  1858  came  the  Fraser 
fever,  the  most  serious  ailment  (of  the  kind)  that  ever  afflicted 
California.  In  March  of  that  year,  news  came  of  the  discovery 
of  rich  gold  diggings  on  the  banks  of  Fraser  river,  in  British 
Columbia,  and  the  reports  gradually  became  more  and  more 
favorable,  until  midsummer,  when  the  belief  was  general  among 
Californians  that  the  valley  of  the  Fraser  was  as  rich  in  gold 
as  was  that  of  the  Sacramento  in  1849.  In  the  course  of  four 
months,  18,000  persons  left  the  State  for  British  Columbia, 
about  one  in  twenty  of  the  whole  white  population.  For  a 
time  nine  ocean  steamers  were  engaged  in  the  conveyance  of 
passengers  between  San  Francisco  and  Victoria.  Between 
the  third  and  tenth  of  July,  inclusive,  3.758  persons  left  San 
Francisco  by  sea,  and  the  departures  would  have  continued  in 
the  same  proportion,  if  it  had  not  been  that  very  unfavorable 
news  arrived  in  San  Francisco,  on  the  tenth  of  July,  and  sud- 
denly put  an  end  to  the  fever.  .During  the  continuance  of  the 
excitement,  the  business  of  the  State  was  turned  topsy  turvy. 
A  newspaper  correspondent,  writing  from  San  Francisco 
under  date  of  June  21st,  said  : 

"  The  rush  to  Fraser  has  made  San  Francisco  very  lively. 
At  no  time  since  '53,  has  the  city  presented  such  a  busy  ap- 
pearance as  now ;  nor  has  so  much  excitement  pervaded  the 
community  at  any  time  since  1849.  Indeed,  1849  has  come 
again. 

"  On  every  side,  at  every  turn,  you  hear  of  Fraser  river. 
Every  acquaintance  you  meet  asks  whether  you  are  going  to 
Fraser  river,  or  tells  how  he  is  going,  or  would  go  if  he  could, 
and  enumerates  your  acquaintances  who  are  going.  The 
newspapers  are  full  of  Fraser  river.  The  goods  exposed  in 
the  streets  are  marked  *  Fraser  River,'  '  Blankets  for  Fraser 
river,'  '  Shirts  for  Fraser  River,'  t  Beans  for  Fraser  river,' 
'  Shovels  for  Fraser  river,'  etc.  Here  and  there  you  will  see 
fixed  up  in  front  of  a  store,  some  such  sign  as  this  :  *  Selling 
out  at  cost ;  going  to  Fraser  river,  sure  as  you  're  born.' 
Every  few  days  the  newsboys  run  through  the  streets  shouting, 
'  'Ere's  the  Extra  Alta !  Later  news  from  Fraser  river !  Gold 


30  HAND-BOOK   OP   MINING. 

by  the  bushel ! '  The  hotels  are  full  of  people  on  their  way  to 
the  new  El  Dorado,  and  they  speak  of  nothing  but  Eraser 
river.  Occasionally  you  will  hear  a  snatch  of  an  old  song 
adapted  to  the  times  : 

'  Oh,  I'm  going  to  Caledonia— that's  the  place  for  me; 
I'm  going  to  Fraser  river,  with  the  washbowl  on  my  knee.' 

"  We  had  a  revival  of  religion  here,  but  Fraser  river  knocked 
it  cold.  People  care  less,  apparently,  just  now,  for  salvation 
than  gold.  The  Coroner  of  this  city  complains  that  the  new 
diggings  have  put  an  end  to  the  suicides.  Really,  Fraser 
river  is  turning  California  upside  down  ;  it  will  be  changed  so 
that  the  old  residents  will  scarcely  know  the  place.  Our 
present  population  is  going,  and  strangers  will  take  their  places. 

"  From  some  of  the  mining  towns  more  than  a  fifth  of  the 
men  have  already  gone  to  Fraser.  Thus,  200  have  already 
gone  from  Grass  Valley,  which  cast  900  votes  last  autumn, 
and  75  have  gone  from  Volcano,  which  cast  328  votes.  These, 
however,  are  extreme  cases.  In  many  places  extra  stages 
have  been  put  on",  and  the  steamers  from  Sacramento  to  this 
city  are  loaded  every  day,  even  when  extra  boats  are  put  on. 
One  day  last  week,  39  passengers  left  Nevada  on  the  Sacra- 
mento stages,  and  37  of  them  were  bound  for  Fraser  river. 
In  Sonora,  200  persons  are  waiting  for  their  turn  to  come 
down  on  the  stages  ;  and  so  it  is  all  through  the  mines.  Every 
mining  camp  is  losing  a  portion  of  its  population  ;  some  one- 
tenth,  some  even  one-half.  Trade  to  the  interior  is  at  a  stand- 
still ;  the  traders  and  boarding-house  keepers,  gardeners  and 
farmers,  of  the  mining  districts,  are  losing  their  debtors  and 
customers,  and  as  they  suffer,  so  their  creditors  will  suffer. 
The  newspapers  of  the  interior  are  in  spasms  about  the  excite- 
ment ;  they  reason  against  it,  they  pray  against,  they  ridicule 
it,  and  some  of  the  editors  would  be  willing  to  fight  against  it, 
if  fighting  could  be  of  service.  The  depression  of  business  in 
the  interior  is  very  great.  Property  is  falling  in  value,  and 
croakers  are  promising  that  grass  shall  next  year  grow  in  the 
streets  of  the  largest  mining  towns.  In  Sacramento  and 
Stockton  there  is  no  life,  except  at  the  stage  offices,  when  the 
stages  arrive,  and  about  the  steamboats  when  they  go  away. 
Farms  and  stores  are  offered  for  sale  at  great  sacrifices  ;  money 
is  rising  in  value,  and  labor  likewise.  Mechanics  and  miners 
are  demanding  higher  wages;  carpenters  have  raised  their 


HISTORY   OP   MINING.  31 

prices  from  four  and  five  to  six  dollars  per  day  ;  masons,  from 
six  to  seven  dollars  ;  stevedores,  from  five  to  six  dollars  ;  bod- 
men,  from  three  to  four  dollars ;  firemen  on  the  steamboats, 
from  sixty  to  eighty  dollars  per  month  ;  and  so  on  through  all 
the  branches  of  employment  wherein  men  are  hired  by  the 
day.  The  contractor  of  the  Sacramento  Valley  Railroad  has 
employed  Chinamen,  because  of  inability  to  get  white  men. 
Many  of  the  quartz  mills  have  stopped,  and  almost  all  will 
have  to  stop,  if  the  present  drain  continues  for  two  months 
more." 

The  same  correspondent,  under  date  of  July  5th,  wrote  thus  : 

"  The  Eraser  fever  rages  fiercely.  Did  I  say  '  fever  ?  '  I 
should  have  said  '  mania.'  Hundreds  of  miners  come  down 
from  Sacramento  and  Stockton  every  day,  and  there  is  no 
abatement,  but  rather  an  increase  in  the  furious  flood.  Not 
since  '51  has  the  city  been  so  full.  The  hotels  are  crowded  ; 
the  dealers  in  hardware,  clothing  and  provisions,  and  the 
owners  of  ocean  steamers  are  making  their  fortunes.  The 
river  steamers  and  the  interior  stages  have  raised  their  prices, 
and  though  extraordinary  boats  and  stages  are  running,  they 
still  cannot  carry  all  who  would  come.  In  one  day  twenty- 
eight  stages  and  wagons,  loaded  down  with  emigrants  for  New 
Caledonia,  came  into  Stockton.  All  the  stages  running  to 
Sacramento  come  in  every  day  filled  up  with  Fraser -fever 
fellows. 

"  Most  of  the  emigrants,  so  far,  have  been  miners,  and  every 
large  mining  camp  has  lost  a  considerable  portion  of  its  popu- 
lation. 

"  The  Downieville  Democrat  of  the  27th  ult,  says  :  *  Whole 
camps  in  the  dry  diggings  are  almost  entirely  deserted,  and 
claims  held  a  month  ago  at  $1,000  are  now  offered  for  $100. 
Diggings  that  are  paying  an  ounce  a  day  are  to  besought  for 
$100,  or  whatever  sum  may  be  offered/ 

"  The  North  San  Juan  Star,  of  the  same  date,  says  :  '  We 
heard  of  one  claim  yesterday,  which  two  months  ago  was 
bought  for  $2,500,  now  offered  for  $600,  and  the  owner  goes 
about  begging  for  an  offer — a  claim  which  is  worth  more  now 
than  it  ever  was  before.  But  this  is  only  one  of  the  many  in- 
stances we  hear  of,  in  this  vicinity  as  well  as  elsewhere.' 

"  I  could  give  you  a  multitude  of  such  extracts,  but  these  are 
enough.  Empty  cabins  are  to  be  seen  on  every  side  in  the 
mining  districts,  and  about  many  of  them  lie  unclaimed  cooking 


32  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

utensils  and  mining  tools.  The  exodus  of  the  white  miners  is 
looked  upon  by  the  Chinamen,  of  whom  2,000  have  arrived 
within  the  last  month,  as  particularly  fortunate  for  them,  for 
they  go  right  into  possession  of  the  deserted  cabins,  claims  and 
tools.  Of  the  Indians,  the  Columbia  correspondent  of  the  Alia 
writes  as  follows  : 

"  '  I  am  informed  as  a  matter  of  fact,  that  the  Indians  in  this 
vicinity,  having  been  told  that  the  whites  were  going  away, 
came  into  town  the  other  day,  and  agreed  how  they  would 
divide  the  brick  buildings  among  themselves  after  the  pale 
faces  should  leave  ;  and  other  Indians  went  into  Sonora  and 
made  a  similar  division  there.  They  left  the  wooden  build- 
ings out,  not  wanting  them.' 

"  A  correspondent  of  the  Alia,  writing  from  Yallecito,  says  : 
'  Mining  claims,  paying  from  eight  to  ten  dollars  per  day,  are 
selling  at  from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  seventy-five 
dollars  apiece  by  those  infatuated  with  the  Fraser  river  fever.' 

"  It  is  impossible  to  know  how  many  of  her  inhabitants  Cali- 
fornia will  lose  in  this  stampede,  or  what  is  to  be  its  ultimate 
influence  on  her  wellfare.  The  total  number  of  votes  to  be 
cast  at  the  general  election  in  the  first  week  in  September, 
will  probably  not  exceed  50,000,  whereas  it  was  about  100,000 
last  year.  Out  of  thirty  policemen  in  this  city,  seven  have 
gone,  and  200  of  1,050  firemen. 

"  Wages  have  risen  considerably  throughout  the  State.  Sail- 
ors are  getting  seventy-five  dollars  per  month,  and  men  ser- 
vants on  steamboats  are  getting  the  same  price.  The  firemen 
on  ocean  steamers  get  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars. 

"  The  price  of  real  estate  in  the  towns  has  fallen,  particularly 
in  the  mining  districts,  where  the  depreciation  is  as  much  as 
twenty-five  and  fifty  per  cent.  Sacramento,  Marysville  and 
Stockton  are  suffering  severely.  All  their  trade  is  killed. 
They  are  at  the  heads  of  steamboat  navigation,  whence  exten- 
sive mines  are  supplied.  But  now  there  is  no  demand  ;  there 
are  more  goods  in  the  mines  than  are  wanted,  and  shipments 
of  many  articles  are  coming  back  to  this  city.  The  ominous 
sign  '  To  Let '  is  alarmingly  frequent  in  all  the  towns,  but  par- 
ticularly so  in  Sacramento  and  San  Francisco  ;  for  although 
this  city  has  suffered  less  by  the  mania  than  any  other  place, 
and  although  many  classes  of  business  have  been  rendered 
exceedingly  profitable  here  by  it,  yet  other  trades  have  been 
ruined.  He  who  deals  in  goods  needed  by  miners  going  to  a 


HISTORY   OF   MINING.  33 

new  country,  is  in  a  fair  way  to  make  a  fortune  ;  he  who  does 
not,  has  a  dull  prospect  before  him,  unless  he  goes  with  the 
tide,  and  this  many  are  compelled  to  do  who  would  be  glad 
to  remain  if  they  could  do  any  business  in  California.  The 
boarding-house  keepers,  the  merchants  and  the  rum-sellers,  of 
the  interior,  are  compelled  to  shut  up  and  follow  their  cus- 
tomers to  the  land  of  promise." 

In  July  the  emigrants  began  to  return,  and  before  the  end 
of  October,  most  of  them  had  got  back  to  their  old  homes, 
poorer  and  wiser  than  they  started.  Only  about  3,000  miners 
spent  the  winter  in  British  Columbia. 

This  Fraser  fever  was  a  remarkable  feature  in  the  history 
of  the  State,  and  I  should  dislike  much  to  leave  any  false  im- 
pression upon  the  minds  of  my  readers  in  regard  to  it.  Many 
persons  believe  and  have  said  that  all  the  persons  who  went 
to  British  Columbia,  during  the  excitement,  exhibited  great 
folly  ;  but  I  never  thought  so.  The  bars  on  Fraser  river  were 
extremely  rich,  and  they  justified  the  belief  that  a  large  extent 
of  country  about  the  river  was  rich  in  gold.  We  had  well 
authenticated  accounts  of  gold  having  been  found  in  bars  for 
a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  along  the  river,  and 
it  having  been  found  in  exceeding  richness  in  some  of  the  bars — 
a  richness  which  might  well  compare  with  that  of  the  bars  of 
the  Yuba  and  Feather  rivers  in  '49.  This  fact  of  the  richness 
of  these  bars,  established  or  taken  for  granted,  there  was  a 
reasonable  presumption  in  the  minds  of  all  acquainted  with  the 
mines  of  California,  that  there  was  a  rich  and  extensive  mining 
country  above.  The  gold  on  Fraser  river  is  very  fine  ;  it  must 
have  been  washed  a  considerable  distance.  There  are  there- 
fore dry  diggings  up  the  river.  The  river  is  a  very  large  one, 
and  since  the  bars  are  rich,  the  dry  diggings  above  must  be 
rich  and  extensive.  This  is  the  universal  rule  in  California. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  Klamath  is  an  exception,  but  the 
Klamath  has  rich  and  extensive  dry  diggings  on  the  banks  of 
its  tributaries,  the  Scott  and  Shasta  rivers.  In  California  we 
do  not  find  paying  bars  on  our  large  rivers  ;  we  find  none  on 
the  Sacramento  or  San  Joaquin  within  three  hundred  miles  of 
the  ocean  ;  and  the  smallest  streams  are,  as  a  rule,  the  richest, 
in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  dust  in  their  beds.  Now 
Fraser  river  has  a  body  of  water  five  times — perhaps  ten 
times — as  great  as  that  of  the  Sacramento,  and  yet  Fraser 
river  had  rich  bars  within  eighty  miles  of  the  ocean  ;  and  these 


34  HAND-BOOK    OF    MINING. 

facts  led  experienced  miners  to  the  inference  that  it  must  run 
through  a  large  and  rich  auriferous  district. 

The  great  error,  and  the  cause  of  most  of  the  evil  which  has 
resulted  from  the  excitement,  is  in  regard  to  the  supposed 
time  when  the  river  would  fall.  It  was  well  understood,  before 
there  was  any  migration  of  note,  that  not  until  the  river  should 
fall  could  there  be  much  mining ;  but  the  men  familiar  with 
the  streams  in  Oregon  and  Washington  Territory,  supposed 
that  of  course  Fraser  river  would  rise  and  fall  at  the  same  time 
'  with  the  Columbia,  and  the  tributaries  of  Puget  sound,  which 
rise  in  May  and  June,  as  the  sun  gets  warm,  and  fall  in  June 
and  July,  usually  getting  down  to  a  very  low  stage  before  the 
first  of  August.  There  seemed  to  be  nothing  unreasonable  in 
this  presumption,  at  first  sight ;  no  fact  inconsistent  with  it 
was  known  ;  no  allowance  was  made  for  the  slower  melting  of 
the  snows  of  the  extreme  north,  at  the  head  of  Fraser  river  ; 
nobody  knew,  by  actual  observation,  at  what  time  the  river 
would  fall ;  and  so  it  was  taken  for  granted  by  all,  that  the 
river  would  be  low  on  the  first  of  August,  and  would  be  at  a 
fair  stage  for  mining  in  the  middle  of  July.  The  result  proved 
that  the  river  did  not  fall  until  late  in  September. 

Many  of  the  Fraser  river  adventurers  ought  not  to  have 
gone,  even  had  New  Caledonia  been  a  second  California  ;  but 
they  were  no  more  unwise  than  a  large  portion  of  the  Cali- 
fornians  who  habitually  enter,  as  nearly  all  do,  into  indiscreet 
speculations.  Many  of  the  adventurers  had  become  disgusted 
with  California,  had  nothing  to  hope  for  here,  and  had  nothing 
to  lose ;  and,  of  course,  it  was  well  enough  for  them  to  go. 
Others  were  men  who  had  $200  to  $1,000,  with  no  one  to 
care  for  (to-day  or  to-morrow)  save  themselves,  cut  off  by  the 
unwise  land  system  of  California  from  the  hope  of  having 
homesteads  in  the  land  upon  which  they  have  worked ;  and 
why  should  they  not  go  ?  Take  it  for  granted  that  they  should 
lose  all  their  money ;  they  would  see  the  country,  and  would 
run  the  chance  of  making  a  fortune,  if  the  mines  should  prove 
as  rich  as  those  of  California  in  '48.  It  was  a  bet  of  $1,000 
against  $20,000.  Who  can  say  that  the  chances  were  more 
than  twenty  to  one  against  the  river  ?  And  the  chance  of 
living  through  such  another  excitement  as  that  of  California 
in  '49 — the  fun  would  be  worth  a  fortune  almost.  And  then 
after  the  migration  had  taken  place,  after  there  was  a  strong 
presumption  that  a  similar  migration  would  take  place  from 


HISTORY    OF    MINING.  ,      35 

New  York,  England,  Canada  and  Australia,  as  from  San 
Francisco,  there  was  then  reason  for  believing  that  even  if  the 
mines  were  not  richer  than  those  of  Colville,  they  must  still  be 
worked  by  a  large  population.  Considerations  like  these  jus- 
tified a  third  class,  such  as  storekeepers,  boarding  house  keepers 
and  mechanics,  in  starting. 

Reply  may  be  made,  that  they  ought  to  have  waited  till  the 
gold  should  have  come.  I  do  not  know  this.  To  expect  such 
conduct,  would  be  to  expect  Californians  to  exercise  more  pru- 
dence in  regard  to  Fraser  river  than  they  do  in  regard  to  other 
business  transactions.  They  are  a  fast  people  ;  they  will  at- 
tempt to  outrun  old  Time  himself,  and  if  they  succeed  once,  it 
pays  them  for  a  dozen  failures.  They  may  lament  their  mis- 
fortunes, and  be  loud  in  their  wail  about  Fraser  river,  but  if  a 
new  one  were  to  turn  up  to-day,  they  would  not  wait  to  let 
anybody  else  get  ahead  of  them.  The  cautious  bump,  which 
teaches  men  to  wait  for  the  gold  to  come  before  they  go  to 
new  diggings,  is  small  in  the  crania  of  Californians. 

The  Washoe  Fever.  J31.  The  next  great  excitement 
among  the  miners  of  California  was  caused  by  the  discovery  of 
the  silver  mines  at  Washoe,  as  the  argentiferous  region  in  the 
basin  of  Carson  river  is  called,  although  that  name  was  previ- 
ously given  to  a  small  adjacent  valley  without  mineral  wealth. 
The  gold  placers  of  Carson  valley  were  opened  in  1852,  and 
since  that  year  there  had  been  a  few  miners  permanently  set- 
tled there.  After  exhausting  the  placers  they  found  rich  aurif- 
erous quartz  leads,  the  gold  of  which  contained  a  large  propor- 
tion of  silver.  It  was  not  until  the  middle  of  1859,  that  the 
argentiferous  veins  were  found,  and  the  reports  commanded 
little  faith  for  some  months.  In  October,  however,  the  news 
began  to  attract  general  attention,  and  before  winter  Closed  up 
the  roads  across  the  Sierra  Nevada,  forty  tons  of  ore,  worth 
$5,000  per  ton,  had  been  sent  to  San  Francisco,  where  it  was 
smelted  at  a  cost  of  four  hundred  and  twelve  dollars  per  ton. 
For  four  or  five  months,  then,  an  excitement  raged  throughout 
California  on  the  subject  of  Washoe.  Many  went  thither,  and 
others  speculated  in  claims.  All  kinds  of  claims  were  in  de- 
mand, and  veins  without  a  particle  of  silver  or  gold  in  them, 
were  sold  at  prices  varying  from  ten  to  one  hundred  dollars  per 
foot.  Fortunes  were  thus  made  and  lost.  The  excitement 
affected  the  course  of  trade,  and  caused  no  little  stringency  in 


36  HAND-BOOK    OP    MINING. 

the  money  market  for  a  time.  Towards  midsummer,  the  fever 
abated  ;  worthless  claims  fell  to  their  proper  position,  and  the 
value  of  rich  lodes  was  better  understood.  In  August,  the 
silver  district  of  Esmeralda  was  discovered  in  the  basin  of 
Walker  river,  a  hundred  miles  southward  of  Washoe,  and  a 
month  later,  the  argentiferous  veins  of  Coso,  two  hundred  miles 
southward  from  Esmeralda,  were  found.  Esmeralda  and  Coso 
have  not  created  much  excitement  as  yet,  although  several 
thousand  persons  have  visited  the  former  district. 

Mining  Inventions  of  California.  §  32.  The  torn, 
the  sluice,  and  the  hydraulic  process,  are  generally  considered 
as  Californian  inventions,  but  they  were  previously  known  in 
other  countries,  though  not  so  well  made,  or  so  effectively  or 
generally  used.  The  torn  and  the  ground  sluice  had  been 
tried  in  the  placers  of  Georgia  previous  to  1848,  but  they  were 
much  improved  when  applied  in  the  California  placers. 

Ansted,  in  his  Gold  Seekers  Manual,  (pp.  85,  86,  87)  pub- 
lished in  London  in  1849,  says  : 

"  At  the  commencement  of  the  mining  system  in  the  Brazils, 
the  common  method  of  proceeding  was  to  open  a  square  pit, 
till  the  workmen  came  to  the  cascalho  ;  [pay  dirt]  this  they 
broke  up  with  pick-axes,  and  placing  it  in  a  wooden  vessel, 
broad  at  the  top  and  narrow  at  the  bottom,  exposed  it  to  the 
action  of  running  water,  shaking  it  from  side  to  side,  till  the 
earth  was  washed  away  and  the  metallic  particles  had  subsided. 
Lumps  of  gold  were  often  found  from  two  and  a  half  to  twelve 
ounces  in  weight,  a  few  of  which  weighed  twenty-five  to  thirty- 
eight  ounces,  and  one,  it  is  asserted,  weighed  thirteen  pounds  ; 
but  these  were  isolated  pieces,  and  the  ground  where  they  were 
discovered  was  not  rich.  In  1724  the  method  of  mining  had 
undergone  considerable  alteration,  introduced  by  some  natives 
of  the  northern  country.  Instead  of  opening  the  ground  by 
hand,  and  carrying  the  cascalho  thence  to  the  water,  the  miners 
conducted  water  to  the  mining  ground  [ditches]  and  washing 
away  the  mould,  [ground  sluicing]  broke  up  the  cascalho  in 
pits  under  a  fall  of  water,  [the  principle  of  the  hydraulic  pro- 
cess] or  exposed  it  to  the  same  action  in  wooden  troughs, 
[sluices]  and  thus  a  great  expense  of  human  labor  was  saved. 
At  the  commencement  of  the  present  century,  there  was  a  gen- 
eral complaint  in  Minas  Geraes,  that  the  ground  was  exhausted 
of  its  gold  ;  yet  it  was  the  opinion  of  many  scientific  men.  that 


HISTORY    OP    MINING.  '37 

hitherto  only  the  surface  of  the  earth  had  been  scratched,  and 
that  the  veins  were  for  the  most  part  untouched.  The  mining 
was  either  in  the  beds  of  the  streams,  or  in  the  mountains ;  in 
process  of  time  the  rivers  had  changed  their  beds,  and  the 
miners  discovered  that  the  original  beds  [ancient  river  beds] 
were  above  the  present  level  of  the  water  and  the  banks  of  the 
streams,  which  formed  as  it  were  a  second  step,  while  the  actual 
beds  are  the  third  and  lowest.  All  these  are  mining  grounds  ; 
the  first  is  easily  worked,  because  little  or  no  waters  remain 
there  ;  the  surface  had  only  to  be  removed  and  then  the  cascalho 
was  found.  In  the  second,  wheels  were  often  required  to  draw 
off  the  water,  while  the  present  bed  of  the  stream  could  only 
be  worked  by  making  a  new  cut,  and  diverting  the  stream." 

But  an  admission  that  the  general ,  principles  of  all  the 
important  mining  inventions  of  California  were  previously 
known  in  other  countries,  does  not  deprive  the  miners  of  the 
Sacramento  basin  of  their  right  to  high  credit ;  for  although 
the  general  principles  might  have  been  elsewhere  applied  at 
an  earlier  time,  it  was  here  that  the  inventions  were  brought 
to  their  highest  state  of  efficiency,  that  they  were  universally 
adopted,  and  that  they  were  adapted  to  the  peculiar  circum- 
stances of  every  locality.  It  was  only  among  a  people  so 
enterprising,  so  bold,  so  familiar  with  mechanics,  and  so  dex- 
terous in  all  kinds  of  labor,  that  the  higher  mining  inventions 
could  find  immediate  favor,  or  come  into  general  usage.  Men 
might  be  found  in  other  nations  to  make  the  inventions,  but 
miners  would  scarcely  be  found  in  any  other  race  than  the 
Anglo-Saxon,  to  at  once  adopt  them  universally.  A  number 
of  machines  for  washing  dirt  are  now  used  in  the  placers  of 
Siberia,  but  they  are  worthless  when  compared  with  our  Oali- 
fornian  mining  machines,  and  I  have  not  thought  it.  worth 
while  to  translate  Zerrenner's  description  of  them.  (Zerren- 
ner's  Anleitung,  p.  LI.) 

Exhaustion  of  Mines.  §  33.  In  1849,  it  was  pre- 
dicted that  the  mines  would  be  exhausted  within  five  years, 
and  that  the  population  of  California  would  go  as  rapidly  as 
they  had  come.  This  prophecy  has  proved  untrue,  but  it  was 
justified  by  the  facts  then  kown  to  the  public.  The  success  of 
the  large  body  of  miners  now  at  work  in  California  is  due  to 
processes  then  unknown,  and  to  the  discovery  of  deposits  of 
gold,  such  as  nobody  thought  of  then.  If  our  miners  had  now 


38  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

to  depend  altogether  upon  the  pan,  the  cradle  and  the  quick- 
silver machine,  and  knew  nothing  of  quartz  veins,  the  gold 
product  would  not  be  one-tenth  of  what  it  now  is,  and  the 
population  of  the  country  would  be  correspondingly  small. 

Various  changes  since  '49.  §  34.  The  torn  and 
the  quicksilver  machine  are  very  rarely  seen  now  in  the  mines ; 
in  some  counties,  neither  has  been  used  for  several  years.  The 
rocker  is  given  up  almost  wholly  to  the  Chinamen.  In  1849, 
nine-tenths  of  the  miners  were  employed  in  working  in  river 
claims ;  now,  such  claims  do  not  lurnish  employment  to  one- 
tenth  of  the  miners.  Then,  the  miners  worked  separately,  or 
in  companies  of  two  or  three ;  now  they  work  in  companies  of 
five  or  ten.  Then,  it  was  rare  to  see  a  miner  working  as  a 
hired  laborer ;  now,  at  least  half  of  the  miners  are  hired  by 
others.  Then,  men  were  running  about  continually  ;  now,  they 
are  more  permanent,  because  their  claims  are  deeper,  and  much 
time  must  be  spent  in  opening  them.  There  are  now  in  the 
State  about  six  thousand  miles  of  mining  ditches,  made  at  a 
cost  of  $15,000,000 ;  three  hundred  quartz  mills  with  three 
thousand  stamps,  costing  $5,000,000,  and  five  hundred  and 
nineteen  arastras,  about  one-half  of  which  are  used  for  amal- 
gamating in  connection  with  stamps,  and  the  others  for  both 
pulverizing  and  amalgamating. 

New  Almaden.  g  35.  The  New  Almaden  quicksilver 
mine  has  had  a  singular  history.  It  had  been  known  to  the 
Indians  the  last  century,  and  they  went  to  it  for  the  purpose  of 
getting  the  decomposed  cinnabar  or  crude  vermilion  as  a  paint. 
The  Indians  told  of  it  to  the  Spanish  Californians,  who  did  riot 
know  what  the  mineral  was.  In  November,  1845,  a  captain 
in  the  Mexican  army,  named  Andres  Castillero,  visited  the 
place,  discovered  the  nature  of  the  ore,  laid  claim  to  the  mine, 
formed  a  company,  and  commenced  working  it.  He  went  to 
Mexico  soon  after,  and  while  there,  sold  out,  and  Barren, 
Forbes  &  Co.,  British  merchants  in  Tepic,  became  the  leading- 
shareholders  ;  and  James  Alexander  Forbes,  British  Vice  Con- 
sul at  Yerba  Buena,  (now  San  Francisco)  was  placed  in  charge 
of  the  mine.  In  1851  it  began  to  yield  largely  of  quicksilver. 
The  next  year,  in  accordance  with  the  requirements  of  an  act 
of  Congress,  the  owners  of  the  mine  filed  their  claim  to  it 
before  the  United  States  Land  Commission,  which  tribunal 


HISTORY    OF    MINING.  39 

confirmed  their  title.  An  appeal  from  this  decision  was  taken 
on  behalf  of  the  United  States,  so  the  case  was  to  be  tried 
over  again.  In  1857,  James  Alexander  Forbes,  who  had 
charge  of  the  mine  from  '47  to  '50,  came  forward  to  prove  that 
the  title  was  forged,  and  he  produced  a  number  of  letters  to 
prove  the  forgery.  The  United  States  Circuit  Court,  in 
October,  1858,  issued  an  injunction  to  stop  the  working  of  the 
mine.  The  owners  indignantly  denied  the  charges  of  forgery, 
and  solicited  the  Government  to  allow  them  to  take  testimony 
in  Mexico.  Their  application,  renewed  in  many  different  forms, 
was  denied  in  all.  Possessing  great  wealth,  they  chartered  a 
steamer,  sent  one  of  their  attorneys  with  her  to  San  Bias ;  he 
went  into  the  city  of  Mexico,  examined  the  archives  of  the 
government  there,  had  a  great  number  of  documents  copied, 
and  returned  with  an  ex-prime  Minister,  two  professors  of  the 
Mining  College,  three  persons  who  had  been  clerks  in  the  min- 
istries when  the  title  was  issued  in  1846,  and  several  other  wit- 
nesses. The  examination  of  these  witnesses  occupied  months. 
Finally,  when  the  case  came  to  be  submitted,  the  testimony 
which  had  all  been  printed,  occupied  three  thousand  octavo 
pages ;  the  lawyers,  among  whom  were  two  United  States 
Senators,  who  had  come  from  Washington  for  the  express  pur- 
pose of  attending  to  this  suit,  occupied  twenty  days  in  argu- 
ment, and  the  opinions  of  the  judges,  when  printed,  covered 
two  hundred  and  thirty  octavo  pages.  The  Court  confirmed 
the  claim,  recognized  the  title  papers  as  genuine,  and  fastened 
upon  witnesses  for  the  Government  the  crimes  of  perjury  and 
forgery  which  had  been  charged  upon  the  claimants. 

The  Gold  Yield.  §  36.  The  amount  of  gold  produced 
by  the  mines  of  California  has  never  been  ascertained  precisely, 
nor  is  it  ascertainable.  Large  amounts,  of  which  noe  record 
was  kept,  are  carried  away  by  individuals,  and  the  amounts 
were  much  larger  previous  to  1855  than  they  are  at  the  present 
time.  My  estimate  of  the  gold  yield  of  the  State  is  as  follows  : 

1848 $10,000,000         1855 $55,000,000 

1849 40,000,000         1856 55,000,000 

1850 50,000,«'00         1857 55.000,000 

1851 55,000,000         1858.. 50,000,000 

1852 60,000,000         1859 50.000,000 

1853 65,000,000         1860 45,000,000 

1854 60,000,000 

Total $650,000,000 

In  regard  to  the  future  gold  yield  of  the  State  we  can  only 


40  HAND-BOOK    OF    MINING. 

guess.  I  expect  that  it  will  decrease  gradually  and  slowly  to 
about  $30,000,000,  at  which  figure  it  will  stand  still  for  many 
years  ;  and  the  silver  yield  of  the  coast  will  gradually  increase  ; 
but  our  knowledge  about  our  silver  lodes  is  so  indefinite,  that  I 
must  not  even  guess  at  the  amount  of  their  produce. 


CHAPTER    II. 

MINERALOGY  OF  GOLD. 


Metals  obtained  on  the  Coast.  $  37.  Gold,  silver 
and  quicksilver  are  the  only  metals  of"  which  mines  are  regu- 
larly wrought  in  the  Pacific  States  of  North  America.  Pla- 
tinum, iridium  and  osmium  are  found  with  the  gold  of  the 
placers,  but  they  are  rarely  bought  or  sold  in  California.  A 
tin  mine,  reported  to  be  valuable,  has  been  found  in  San  Ber- 
nardino county,  but  no  metal  has  yet  been  obtained  from  it. 
There  is  a  rich  mine  of  antimony  twenty  miles  west  of  the 
Tejon  Pass,  but  it  cannot  be  wrought  at  California.!!  rates  of 
labor.  Rich  copper  mines  are  found  in  many  parts  of  the 
State.  No  rich  mines  of  lead,  iron  or  zinc  are  known  in  Cal- 
ifornia. There  have  been  reports  of  the  finding  of  small  dia- 
monds. The  itacolumite  or  quartzose  sandstone,  however, 
which  usually  accompanies  diamonds,  is  not  found  on  the  coast, 
so  far  as  I  have  heard.  Some  other  gems  have  been  found  in 
the  placers,  but  none  of  value  sufficient  to  pay  for  mining  for 
them.  It  is  reported  that  opals  and  rubies  have  been  found  in 
Table  mountain,  Tuolmnne  county  ;  but  if  so,  they  have  been 
few  and  of  little  value. 

Coal  is  found  at  Coose  Bay  in  Oregon,  at  Bellingham  Bay, 
Washington  Territory,  and  at  various  places  on  the  shores  of 
Vancouver  Island  and  British  Columbia.  There  have  been 
numerous  reports  of  the  discovery  of  coal  veins  in  various 
counties  in  California,  and  many  thousands  of  dollars  have  been 
spent  in  opening  them ;  yet  they  furnish  little  coal  for  the  market, 
nor  is  it  likely  they  ever  will  furnish  much.  The  geological 
formation  of  the  State  renders  it  probable  that  California  will 
always  import  coal.  We  have  little  or  nothing  of  the  second- 
ary formation  which  bears  the  valuable  coal  deposits.  The 
3 


42  HAND-BOOK    OF    MINING. 

coal  of  Oregon,  Washington  and  the  British  Colonies  is  ter- 
tiary, and  is  far  inferior  to  the  secondary  coal  of  England  and 
the  Eastern  States.  California  now  imports  nearly  all  her  coal 
from  New  York  and  England. 

Sulphur  lies  in  deep  and  extensive  beds  about  Clear  Lake, 
in  Napa  and  Sonoma  counties,  and  in  Santa  Barbara  county. 

Borax  is  found  at  Borax  Lake,  in  Napa  county. 

Asphaltum  is  obtained  in  many  counties  along  the  southern 
coast  of  California,  but  it  is  dug  up  from  the  suri'ace,  without 
any  labor  that  deserves  the  name  of  mining.  The  asphaltum 
is  formed  by  the  drying  or  hardening  of  a  mineral  oil  that  rises 
from  numerous  springs. 

"No  Ore  of  Gold.  §  38.  Gold  is  the  only  yellow  metal. 
It  is  always  found  in  nature  in  a  metallic  state,  never  as  an  ore. 
Webster  says  an  ore  is  "  the  compound  of  a  metal  and  some 
other  substance,  as  oxygen,  sulphur  or  carbon,  called  its  *  inin- 
eralizer,'  by  which  its  properties  are  disguised  or  lost."  I 
would  define  an  ore  to  be  "  a  natural  compound,  containing  a 
metal  (from  which  it  differs  in  appearance)  in  chemical  union 
with  one  or  more  non-metallic  substances."  Gold  is  found  in 
a  state  of  nature  combined  with  other  substances  mechanically, 
not  chemically.  Gold  mines  are  of  two  kinds,  placer  and 
quartz. 

Placer  Mines.  \  39.  In  placer  mines,  gold  is  found  in 
earthy  matter,  where  it  has  been  deposited  among  clay,  sand 
and  gravel  under  the  influence  of  water.  The  word  "  placer  " 
is  Spanish,  and  in  its  first  signification  means  pleasure.  I 
apply  the  name  to  all  diggings  where  gold  is  found  in  diluvium 
or  alluvium,  without  regard  to  their  depth.  In  1849,  the  term 
as  used  by  Californians  signified  diggings  on  the  surface  of  the 
ground,  or  within  a  few  feet  of  the  surface,  because  deep  dig- 
gings were  then  unknown.  All  placers,  even  if  but  a  few 
inches  deep  on  the  surface  of  the  ground,  are  called  "  mines ;" 
though  that  word,  as  used  by  those  engaged  in  searching  for 
other  minerals,  implies  deep  digging  into  the  earth. 

Quartz  Mines.  §  40.  In  quartz  mines,  gold  is  found  in 
stony  veins.  These  veins  are  usually  quartz,  though  sometimes 
the  metal  is  found  in  granite,  limestone,  talcose  slate,  green- 
stone, serpentine,  porphyry,  trachyte  and  trap.  It  is  supposed. 


MINERALOGY    OF    GOLD.  43 

however,  that  these  rocks  are  auriferous  only  where  they  have 
come,  while  fused,  into  contact  with  auriferous  quartz.  Much 
auriferous  metamorphic  limestone  and  granite  has  been  found 
in  California,  but  nobody  ever  speaks  of  "  limestone  mining," 
or  "  granite  mining  ;"  all  persons  who  get  their  living  by  min- 
ing for  gold,  are  either  "quartz  "  or  "placer  "  miners. 

Forms  of  Quartz  Gold.  $  41.  Gold  has  many  dif- 
ferent forms  in  quartz.  In  some  lodes,  the  particles  are  all  so 
small  as  to  be  barely  perceptible  to  the  naked  eye  ;  in  others, 
they  are  flat  and  small ;  again,  they  may  be  lumpish,  varying 
in  size  from  a  pin-head  to  a  pea  ;  elsewhere,  in  smooth  sheets, 
as  thin  as  paper  and  smooth  as  glass,  though  enclosed  between 
rough  rock  on  both  sides ;  here,  like  fern  leaves  ;  there,  in 
threads  ;  in  this  vein,  dendritic,  resembling  a  tree  or  coral,  with 
a  multitude  of  branches  shooting  out  from  a  common  center, 
and  every  part  made  of  a  little  golden  octahedral  crystal ;  in 
that  vein  every  particle  of  gold  is  independent  of  its  neighbor  ; 
in  another,  all  the  particles  are  connected  together,  as  though 
when  the  quartz  had  been  in  a  state  of  fusion,  the  gold  had 
been  poured  in  and  stirred  about  a  little,  (but  not  enough  to 
break  the  connection)  until  the  rock  had  solidified.  Some 
very  beautiful  specimens  of  quartz  gold,  resembling  fern  leaves, 
have  been  found  near  Shingle  Springs,  in  Eldorado  county. 
Elegant  samples  of  dendritic  gold  have  been  obtained  near 
Coulterville,  Mariposa  county.  "  The  most  beautiful  speci- 
mens of  crystalline  gold,"  says  Blake,  (U.  S.  Pacific  Railroad 
Report,  vol.  v,  p.  300)  "  are  those  in  which  the  crystals  are 
combined  with  an  arborescent  or  dendritic  growth  of  the 
metal,  like  the  leaves  of  ferns  or  foliage  of  the  arbor- vitae. 
Specimens  of  this  character  are  not  found  among  the  rudely 
transported  drift,  but  can  be  obtained  only  from  their  original 
bed  in  the  solid  rocks.  Some  of  the  most  remarkable  and 
beautiful  specimens  ever  seen  were  taken  out  of  the  cavities  of 
a  quartz  vein  at  Irish  Creek,  about  three  miles  from  Coloma. 
They  presented  various  and  complicated  combinations,  being 
arborescent,  in  broad,  paper-like  sheets,  studded  with  brilliant 
crystals,  and  in  solid  octahedrons.  These  were  combined 
together  in  the  most  interesting  manner,  giving  an  effect 
beyond  the  reach  of  art.  A  very  fine  specimen  of  this  charac- 
ter, in  my  collection,  has  the  form  of  a  leaf;  one  side  is  abor- 
escent  and  very  brilliant,  and  the  other  is  studded  with  about 


44  HAND-BOOK    OF    MINING. 

twenty-five  perfect  octahedral  crystals.  They  are  geometri- 
cally arranged,  all  the  similar  edges  being  parallel.  This  is 
believed  to  be  the  most  beautiful  and  curious  specimen  known. 
Its  weight  is  seventeen  pennyweights  and  ten  grains  ;  length, 
two  and  a  quarter  inches  ;  width,  one  and  a  half.  One  of  the 
largest  specimens  of  this  arborescent  and  foliated  gold,  from 
Irish  Creek,  was  about  twelve  inches  long  by  twelve  broad. 
A  part  of  the  specimen  was  a  plate  three  or  four  inches  long, 
covered  with  triangular  marks ;  the  remainder  was  arbores- 
cent, and  the  whole  appeared  to  have  grown  from  one  end. 
Another  specimen,  slightly  different  in  character,  and  prob- 
ably from  another  locality  in  the  vicinity,  was  ten  inches  long, 
three  broad,  and  about  half  an  inch  thick.  It  weighed  thirty- 
one  ounces,  and  was  free  from  quartz — forming  a  most  beauti- 
ful mass,  of  a  rich  yellow  color,  and  a  delicately  marked  sur- 
face, consisting  of  a  network  of  fibers.  It  appeared  like  a 
bundle  of  fern  leaves,  closely  matted  together.  With  one 
exception,  all  the  crystals  which  have  come  under  my  observa- 
tion are  octahedrons ;  not  a  single  cube  has  been  seen.  The 
exception  is  a  large,  crystal,  a  pentagonal  dodecahedron,  upon 
one  of  the  broad  plates  of  gold."  Yery  few  auriferous  quartz 
veins  in  the  State  furnish  rock  hard  enough  for  quartz  jewelry. 
In  most  lodes,  the  rock,  especially  in  the  richest  places,  has 
little  fissures  and  cavities,  and  is  ready  to  crumble  to  pieces  at 
any  slight  blow.  The  Marble  Spring  lode,  in  Mariposa,  has 
furnished  more  rich  quartz,  suitable  for  jewelry,  than  any  other 
vein  in  the  State.  The  solid  lumps  of  gold  found  in  quartz, 
never,  as  far  as  I  have  heard,  weigh  more  than  two  ounces, 
and,  indeed,  a  compact  mass  of  gold,  weighing  an  ounce,  is 
more  rare  in  quartz,  than  lumps  weighing  ten  pounds  are  in 
the  placers. 

Gold  Dust.  $  42.  Placer  gold  is  usually  called  "  gold 
dust ;"  but  the  word  dust,  without  explanation,  conveys  an 
erroneous  idea.  .Gold  dust  is  not  a  fine  powder,  but  ordinarily 
consists  of  pieces  larger  than  a  pin:head,  very  often  with  lumps 
varying  from  a  pennyweight  to  an  ounce  ;  and,  even  if  the 
lumps  weigh  ounces  or  pounds,  it  is  none  the  less  "  gold  dust." 

Forms  of  Placer  Gold,  g  43.  The  first  general 
division  of  placer  gold,  or  gold  dust,  relates  to  the  size  of  the 
particles,  and  is  denominated  "fine"  and  "  coarse."  Fine  gold 


MINERALOGY   OF   GOLD.  45 

dust  is  that  whereof  the  particles  are  smaller  than  pigeon-shot ; 
in  coarse  gold,  the  particles  are  larger.  Fine  gold  is  often 
found  without  any  admixture  of  coarse  ;  but  the  latter  is  rarely 
found  without  containing  many  small  particles.  Coarse  gold 
is  usually  made  up  of  pieces  very  irregular  in  size  and  shape. 

"  Fine  gold  "  may  be  divided  into  "  flour,"  "  grain,"  "  shot," 
"  fine  shot,"  "  scale,"  "  thread,"  and  "  spangle." 

"  Flour  gold,"  is  as  fine  as  wheaten  flour. 

"  Grain  gold,"  is  that  whereof  the  particles  are  not  larger 
than  the  grains  of  gunpowder. 

"  Fine  shot,"  is  that  whereof  the  particles  are  of  a  roundish 
shape,  and  not  larger  than  the  smallest  shot.  Fine  shot  gold 
was  found  in  Secret  Ravine,  Placer  county. 

"  Shot  "  differs  from  "  fine  shot  "  .only  in  size,  being  a  little 
larger. 

The  particles  of  u  scale  gold "  are  flat,  like  little  scales. 
They  usually  have  a  shape  approaching  the  circular,  and  are 
not  more  than  an  eighth  of  an  inch  in  diameter.  In  many 
places  the  scales  are  remarkably  uniform  in  size  and  shape. 
Thus,  the  gold  dug  on  the  bars  of  the  Yuba  and  Feather 
rivers,  in  '48,  '49  and  '50,  was  most  of  it  in  scales,  nearly  cir- 
cular, about  a  tenth  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  a  thirteenth  of 
an  inch  in  thickness.  Similar  scale  gold  has  been  ftfund  in 
ravines  in  nearly  every  auriferous  county  of  California. 

"  Thread  gold  "  has  the  shape  of  threads,  about  as  thick  as 
a  large  pin,  and  from  a  quarter  of  an  inch  fo  an  inch  in  length. 
Sometimes  the  longer  pieces  are  found  knotted  up  very  curi- 
ously and  inexplicably.  Thread  gold  is  found  in  Fine  Gold 
Gulch,  Mariposa  county,  and  also  in  sewal  gullies  near 
Camptonville  and  Yreka.  In  some  places  the  threads  have  a 
groove  running  through  them,  so  that  they  are  semi«cylinders ; 
in  other  places  the  threads  are  fluted ;  and  the  same  general 
character  is  usually  observed- in  all  the  threads  obtained  from 
one  gully.  In  silver  mines  it  is  not  unusual  to  find  little 
bunches  of  threads  of  native  silver,  all  tangled  together.  These 
bunches  suggest  the  idea  that  probably  the  gold  threads  were 
all  in  similar  bunches.  Thread  gold  is  usually  of  a  very  low 
fineness — that  is,  it  contains  a  large  proportion  of  silver. 

"  Spangle  gold  "  borders  on  the  coarse  ;  in  fact,  there  are 
"  fine  spangle  "  and  "  coarse  spangle."  "  Spangle  gold  "^has 
shapes  similar  to  those  which  are  taken  by  lead  when  it  is 
poured  in  a  melted  condition  from  a  hight  of  four  or  five  feet, 


46  HAND-BOOK   OF    MINING. 

aiid  allowed  to  fall  into  water  or  upon  damp  ground.  The 
particles  are  of  many  fantastic  shapes.  There  is  a  "  Spangle 
Gold  Gulch,"  near  the  head  of  the  San  Joaqnin  river. 

Coarse  gold  may  be  divided  into  "  crystalline,"  "  coarse 
shot,"  "pea,"  "bean,"  "cucumber  seed,"  "pumpkin  seed," 
"  moccasin,"  and  "  miscellaneous  coarse." 

"  Crystalline  gold,"  in  octahedral  crystals,  is  very  rarely 
found  in  placers  and  not  often  in  quartz. 

"  Coarse  shot  gold,"  is  that  whereof  many  or  most  of  the 
particles  are  roundish  in  shape,  and  larger  than  pigeon-shot 
in  size. 

"  Pea  gold  "  is  made  up  of  roundish  lumps,  about  the  size 
of  a  pea.  Pea  gold  was  found  in  several  ravines,  emptying 
into  Cottonwood  Creek,  in  Shasta  county. 

"  Bean  gold  "  has  smooth  lumps,  resembling  a  bean  in  size 
and  shape.  Samples  of  it  were  found  near  Horsetown. 

"  Cucumber  seed  gold "  resembles  cucumber  seeds,  and 
sometimes  the  resemblance  of  the  lumps  to  the  seeds,  and  the 
uniformity  of  size  and  shape,  is  very  wonderful.  Cucumber 
seed  gold  was  found  in  various  canons  of  Clear  Creek,  and  on 
some  bars  of  the  Mokelumne  river. 

"  Pumpkin  seed  gold  "  resembles  pumpkin  seeds. 

"  M"6ccasin  gold  "  is  in  lumps,  shaped  like  a  moccasin  or 
low  shoe,  and  about  half  an  inch  in  length.  Moccasin  gold  is 
found  in  Coarse  Gold  gulch,  in  Fresno  county. 

The  "  miscellaneous  coarse  gold "  makes  up  almost  the 
entire  amount  of  coarse  gold  taken  from  the  mines.  It  is  com- 
posed of  particles  of  irregular  size,  usually  flattish  in  shape, 
and  smooth.  The  other  kinds  of  coarse  gold  and  the  fine 
thread  were  not  abundant  in  1849,  at  the  time  when  the 
placers  had  just  been  fairly  opened  ;  but  now  they  are  very 
rarely  found. 

I  know  of  no  satisfactory  explanation  for  the  fact  that  the 
particles  of  gold  in  auriferous  quartz  never  approach  in  size 
the  nuggets  found  in  adjacent  placers.  There  are  only  two 
theories.  One,  that  the  aurifer'ous  quartz  was  much  richer 
and  had  the  gold  in  larger  masses  in  those  parts  of  the  veins 
that  have  been  worn  down,  than  in  those  that  still  preserve 
their  original  form.  The  other  theory  is,  that  the  numerous 
small  particles  of  gold  lying  near  each  other  in  the  placers,  are 
collected  together  by  some  chemical  or  electrical  influence  and 
united  into  one  mass.  (Gangstudien,  vol.  3,  p.  464.) 


MINERALOGY    OF    GOLD.  47 

Large  Nuggets.  J  44.  There  is  some  doubt  about  the 
size  of  the  largest  lump  or  nugget  of  native  gold.  According 
to  a  legend  current  in  Peru,  a  nugget  weighing  400  pounds 
was  found  at  the  mine  of  San  Juan  de  Oro,  on  the  headwaters 
of  the  Amazon  river,  in  the  time  of  Charles  the  Fifth,  and 
was  sent  as  a  gift  to  that  monarch,  who  rewarded  the  donors 
by  elevating  them  all  to  nobility.  I  have  not  been  able,  how- 
ever, to  find  any  trustworthy  authority  for  this  legend. 

The  largest  nugget  of  which  we  have  an  unquestioned  ac- 
count is  the  "  Welcome  nugget,"  weighing  184  pounds  Troy, 
and  worth  $42,000,  found  at  Ballaarat,  Australia,  on  the 
ninth  of  June,  1858.  It  was  found  190  feet  below  the  surface 
of  the  earth,  in  a  claim  from  which  many  other  nuggets, 
weighing  from  ten  to  forty-five  ounces  had  previously  been 
taken.  The  Melbourne  Herald  of  the  eighteenth  of  June,  de- 
scribed it  thus : 

"  A  large,  misshapen,  irregular  lump  of  gold,  water-worn 
and  rounded  upon  each  of  the  numerous  edges  presented  by  a 
surface  completely  and  more  or  less  deeply  honeycombed.  Its 
total  length  is  about  twenty  inches,  its  greatest  breadth  about 
twelve  inches,  and  its  greatest  depth  about  eight  inches." 

The  second  nugget  in  size  was  found  in  Oalaveras  county, 
California,  in  November,  1854.  It  weighed  161  pounds  avoir- 
dupois, and  was  supposed  to  contain  twenty  pounds  of  quartz, 
and  was  valued  at  $29,000.  The  value  was  less  in  proportion 
to  the  weight  than  that  of  the  Welcome  nugget,  because  the 
latter  was  free  from  quartz  and  dirt,  and  because  the  Aus- 
tralian gold  has  less  silver  than  the  Californian. 

The  third  nugget  in  size  was  found  at  Korong,  Australia, 
in  the  summer  of  1857.  It  was  called  the  "  Blanche  Barkly 
nugget/'  weighed  145  pounds,  and  was  estimated  to  be  worth 
about  $35,000.  A  newspaper  described  it  as  "  a  solid  mass  of 
virgin  gold,  two  feet,  four  inches  long,  ten  inches  broad,  and 
from  one  to  two  inches  thich." 

It  is  reported  that  a  nugget  weighing  ninety-three  pounds 
was  found  in  1842,  in  the  Valley  of  Taschku-Targanka,  in 
Siberia. 

A  nugget  of  eighty  pojunds  was  found  in  Cabarras  county, 
North  Carolina,  in  1842."  (Gangstudien,  vol.  3,  p.  468.) 

Many  boulders  of  rich  auriferous  quartz,  varying  from  100 
to  500  pounds,  have  been  found,  but  these  do  not  deserve  to 
be  classed  among  the  nuggets. 


48 


HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 


Probably  not  less  than  a  thousand  nuggets,  weighing  a 
pound  or  more  each,  have  been  found  in  California.  There 
have  been  not  less  than  fifty  weighing  over  twenty  pounds 
each.  The  number  of  those  weighing  from  one  to  six  ounces, 
would  be  almost  innumerable.  The  richest  place  in  California 
for  nuggets,  was  the  vicinity  of  Sonora,  in  Tuolumne  county. 
The  following  is  an  incomplete  list  of  the  nuggets  found  there 
from  1850  to  1858,  inclusive.  The  dates  up  to  March,  1854, 
refer  to  the  daily  Alta  California  newspaper,  in  which  the 
nugget  is  mentioned  ;  the  subsequent  dates  mentioned,  merely 
the  month  in  which  the  lump  was  found.  In  some  cases  the 
weight,  in  others  the  estimated  value  is  given  : 

1850. 

23  Ibs.  Wood's  Diggings.  ..February  20  10  Bis.  11  ozs.  Sonora May  14 

5  Bis.  near  Sonora March  6  18  Bis.  Sonora  June  7 

51  ozs.  Sonora April  2    4B>s.  4J  ozs.  Jamestown August  11 

23  Bis.  2  ozs.  Sonora May  14  13  Ibs.  Sonora October  14 

1851. 

October5i23  B>s.  6  ozs.  near  Sonora....  October  5 

October  5 1 69J  ozs.  Wood's  Creek December  1 

1852. 

$90,  Sonora  January  5  $80,  Sonora January  10 

12  ozs.  Sonora ...January  5  '26  ozs.  Shaw's  Flat August  55 

SI, 100,  Sonora January  10  116  ozs.  Shaw's  Flat November  23 

{$900,  Sonora January  10 

1853. 

29  ozs.  near  Sonora January  18)  15  ozs.  Columbia May  13 

20  Ibs.  7  ozs.  near  Sonora.. February  19  11  ozs.  Columbia May  13 

$1,500,  near  Sonora  February  21    9  His.  Indian  Gulch May  ^6 

9  ozs.  near  Sonora February  24  7  Bis.  8  ozs.  Indian  Gulch May  16 

7  Bis.  near  Sonora Februarj'  25  36  ozs.  Yankee  Hill June  5 

69  ozs.  near  Columbia February  26  12  ozs.  Shaw's  Flat June  12 

7  ozs.  near  Sonora March  4  4J  ozs.  Shaw's  Flat June  13 

116  ozs.  Columbia Maj-  2  30  ozs.  Sonora June  29 

24  ozs  Columbia May  271  ozs.  Sonora  June  29 

18  ozs.  Columbia May  131 

1854. 

11J  ozs.  Sonora February  Hi  2  Bis. near  Columbia June  — 

27  tts.  Columbia March  23 1 16£  Bis.  Sonora July  — 

1  B3.  Jamestown June  ~j7'2  BJS.  near  Columbia September  — 

$400,  Springfield Jnne  - !  17  Ibs.  Sonora November  — 

1855. 

30  BJS.  near  Sonora January  — 


28B)S.  4  ozs.  Sonora. 
24  Ibs.  Sonora 


41  ozs.  Columbia May  — 

13  ozs.  Columbia May  — 

1 1  ozs.  Saw  Mill  Flat Mny  — 

47  ozs.  Columbia July  -I 


15  ozs.  Columbia September  - 

33 £  tlis.  Columbia September  - 

33  ozs.  Columbia September- 


CHAPTEK    III 

CHEMISTKY  OF  GOLD. 


Chemical  Fineness  of  Gold.  \  45.  Having  con- 
sidered gold  mineral ogically,  that  is,  in  regard  to  the  shapes  in 
which  it  is  found,  we  now  come  to  consider  it  chemically. 
When  pure,  it  is  of  a  bright  yellow  color,  nineteen  times 
heavier  than  water  of  the  same  bulk,  heavier  than  any  other 
metal  in  common  use,  and  fusible  at  about  2800  deg.  of  Fah- 
renheit's thermometer.  Gold,  as  found  in  nature,  is  never  pure  ; 
it  is  always  mixed  with  silver,  frequently  with  copper,  and 
sometimes  with  other  metals.  We  do  not  know  why  it  is 
always  found  in  combination  with  silver.  The  proportion  of 
silver  varies  greatly,  from  almost  pure  gold  with  a  little  silver 
in  it,  to  almost  pure  silver  with  a  little  gold  in  it.  The  silver 
and  other  metals  in  native  gold  are  called  u  alloy."  The  pro- 
portion of  pure  gold  in  native  gold  is  designated  by  the  word 
"  fineness  ; "  the  greater  the  proportion  of  pure  gold,  the  higher 
the  fineness.  The  word  "  fine,"  as  applied  to  gold  dust,  has, 
therefore,  two  distinct  significations — one  mechanical,  referring 
to  the  size  of  the  particles ;  the  other  chemical,  referring  to 
their  chemical  composition.  Jewellers  usually  estimate  the 
fineness  of  gold  in  carats,  of  which  twenty-four  make  an  ounce ; 
and  perfectly  pure  gold  is  said  to  be  twenty-four  carats  fine ; 
whereas,  if  there  be  two  carats  of  alloy  in  an  ounce  of  the 
metal,  it  is  twenty-two  carats  fine  ;  or  if  there  be  three  carats 
of  alloy,  then  it  is  twenty-one  carats  fine,  and  so  on.  But  at 
the  Mint,  and  in  the  common  usage  of  California,  the  fineness 
of  gold  is  described  in  thousandths.  If  fifty  parts  in  a  thou- 
sand are  alloy,  then  the  metal  is  said  to  be  nine  hundred  and 
fifty  fine.  Our  standard  coin  contains  ninety  parts  of  copper, 
.ten  of  silver  in  a  thousand,  making  one  hundred  parts  of  alloy 


50  HAND-BOOK   OF    MINING. 

altogether,  and,  therefore,  it  is  nine  hundred  fine.  Pure  gold 
is  a  thousand  fine.  The  gold  of  the  Californian  placers  varies 
from  five  hundred  to  nine  hundred  and  ninety-five  fine,  but 
the  latter  fineness  is  extremely  rare.  A  reasonable  approx- 
imation to  the  fineness  of  gold  can  ordinarily  be  made  by 
its  color,  which  varies  according  to  the  amount  of  silver,  the 
usual  alloy.  Our  gold  coin  is  redder  than  pure  gold,  because 
it  is  nearly  one-tenth  copper  ;  the  placer  gold  of  California  has 
a  lighter  color  than  pure  gold,  because  it '  has  about  one-tenth 
or  more  of  silver. 

Mr.  Molitor,  in  an  essay  on  gold  published  in  the  Alta  Cali- 
fornia, said : 

"About  1853,  a  gold  specimen,  of  the  size  of  a  man's  hand, 
found  somewhere  in  the  neighborhood  of  Downieville,  (accord- 
ing to  the  statement  of  the  depositor)  was  assayed  in  the  labora- 
tory of  the  late  firm  of  Wass,  Molitor  &  Co.,  and  found  to  be 
nine  hundred  and  ninty-two  fine.  This  was  an  unique  case ; 
but  gold  of  above  nine  hundred  and  seventy  fineness  has  been 
frequently  assayed  in  San  Francisco.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
gold  from  the  Kern  river  mines  contains  such  a  large  propor- 
tion of  silver,  as  to  be  almost  identical  with  the  Electrum  of 
the  ancients,  or  the  Zoroche  of  the  Mexicans,  which  means, 
a  metal  consisting  of  about  half  and  half,  silver  and  gold. 
Between  these  two  extremes  all  degrees  of  mixture  of  the  two 
metals  have  been  found  in  this  country.  The  experience  of 
several  years  shows,  however,  that  eight  hundred  and  fifty-five 
would  be  about  the  average  fineness  of  California  gold,  to  which 
it  must  be  added,  that  by  far  the  greater  part  of  the  whole  gold 
produce  seems  to  group  itself,  in  w  regard  to  fineness,  close 
around  this  average  figure.  On  tlie  virtue  of  this  statement 
we  may  say,  therefore,  that  the  greatest  part  of  the  gold  of  this 
country  ranges,  as  a  rule,  between  eight  hundred  and  forty  and 
nine  hundred  and  thirty,  and  that  all  cases  exceeding  these 
limits  may  be  regarded  as  exceptions  of  the  general  rule. 

"  It  is  impossible,  even  to  the  most  practised  eye,  to  determine 
the  quality  of  an  unknown  sort  of  gold  dust  by  merely  looking 
at  it ;  and  even  in  judging  a  well  known  description  of  dust, 
the  purchaser  may  deceive  himself  very  easily,  to  his  own  dam- 
age. The  gold  may,  for  instance,  by  some  natural  .accident, 
possegg  a  richer  color  than  entitled  to  by  its  quality ;  or  it  may 
be  taken  for  a  superior  kind  of  gold,  on  account  of  the  shape 
of  its  grains,  which  may  be  similar  to  some  known  dust  of 


CHEMISTRY   OF    GOLD.  51 

good  quality ;  or  it  may  be  mixed  with  some  inferior  gold, 
either  with  or  without  an  intention  to  defraud  the  buyer ;  or 
adulterated  in  some  way  or  another,  and  so  on. 

"  Even  the  knowledge  of  the  region,  or  gold  field,  from  where 
a  certain  description  of  gold  originated,  is  not  a  sure  evidence 
of  its  quality.  Nobody  can  depend  on  it,  that  the  gold  taken 
out  of  one  and  the  same  flat,  hill,  bar,  or  even  from  the  same 
claim,  or  quartz  lead,  will  always  be  exactly  the  same.  Very 
often  the  most  astonishing  differences  in  this  regard  are  found 
within  comparatively  short  distances.  Thus,  there  are  quartz 
leads  with  very  low  gold,  surrounded  by  placers  famous  for  the 
fineness  of  their  metal ;  and  on  the  contrary,  veins  with  very 
rich  metal  in  the  vicinity  of  diggings  not  renowned  for  the 
superior  quality  of  their  metal. 

';  There  is,  in  fact,  one  sure  method  to  determine  the  fineness, 
and  consequently  the  exact  value  of  the  precious  metal,  and 
that  is  the  regular  metallurgic  process  of  assaying,  after  the 
previous  melting  of  the  dust  into  a  bar  or  ingot. 

"  1  Gold  coming  from  British  Columbia,  or  the  Fraser  river 
mines,  generally  ranges  between  eight  hundred  and  forty  and 
eight  hundred  and  sixty  fine.  In  some  cases  it  was  found  as  low 
as  eight  hundred  and  twenty ;  in  others,  above  eight  hundred  and 
sixty  ;  but  these  may  be  considered  as  exceptions  to  the  rule. 
It  mostly  appears  in  our  market  as  coarse  lumps  of  amalgam 
gold,  and  suffers  an  average  loss  of  ten  per  cent,  by  melting. 

"2.  The  average  fineness  of  dust  from  the  Gold  Beach, 
above  and  below  Port  Orford,  (Oregon)  is  eight  hundred  and 
eighty.  The  gold  dust  appears  throughout  in  fine  scales,  and 
is  extracted  from  the  sand  and  accompanying  minerals,  includ- 
ing Iridio-Platinum,  chiefly  by  amalgamation. 

"  3.  The  gold  which  finds  its  way  to  San  Francisco  prin- 
cipally by  Crescent  City,  and,  therefore,  has  been  worked  chiefly 
on  the  Klamath  river  and  its  tributaries,  seldom  exceeds  eight 
hundred  and  eighty  fine,  and  seldom  descends  below  eight  hun- 
dred and  fifty.  Its  average  fineness  is  eight  hundred  and  sixty- 
five.  In  this  district,  we  include  the  counties  of  Del  Norte, 
Klamath  and  Siskiyou,  and  the  adjoining  southern  border-tract 
of  Oregon.  This  gold  mostly  appears  in  coarse  and  heavy 
grains,  and  sometimes  contains  a  considerable  admixture  of 
Indium. 

"  4.  The  placers  on  Trinity  river,  and  on  the  western  tribu- 
taries of  the  upper  Sacramento,  belonging  to  Trinity  and  Shasta 


52  HAND-BOOK   OP   MINING. 

counties,  seem  in  general  to  yield  a  better  quantity,  and  we 
may  safely  put  the  average  ten  thousandths  higher  than  under 
the  previous  number.  Some  dust  from  the  neighborhood  of 
Weaverville  shows  the  fineness  of  above  nine  hundred. 

"  5.  Feather  river  gold  shows  an  average  fineness  of  eight 
hundred  and  ninety,  and  most  frequently  occurs  in  very  regu- 
larly shaped  and  almost  uniform  grains  or  scales. 

"  6.  Gold  on  the  north  forks  of  the  Yuba  is  generally  much 
finer  than  the  above,  in  many  cases  going  up  as  high  as  nine 
hundred  and  fifty,  and  seldom  below  nine  hundred ;  average 
about  nine  hundred  and  twenty.  The  dust  is  also  mostly  of  a 
scaly  description,  and  a  great  deal  of  it  appears  in  the  market 
as  amalgam  gold. 

"  7.  On  the  south  fork  of  the  Yuba,  the  general  fineness 
seems  again  to  decrease.  Around  Nevada,  placer  gold  seldom 
shows  more  than  eight  hundred  and  eighty.  The  quartz  gold 
from  the  various  veins  of  Grass  Valley  ranges  between  eight 
hundred  and  eight  hundred  and  fifty,  and  may  be  put  down  at 
eight  hundred  and  twenty,  average  fineness. 

"  8.  On  the  north  and  middle  forks  of  the  American  river, 
gold  is  again  rising  in  fineness,  especially  in  the  diggings  about 
Auburn,  approaching  here  the  figure  of  nine  hundred. 

"  9.  On  the  south  fork  of  the  same  river,  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  towns  of  Coloma  and  Placerville,  the  fineness  of  the  dust 
varies  very  much.  Coloma  gold  seldom  ranges  above  eight 
hundred  and  ninety,  and  generally  conies  nearer  to  eight  hun- 
dred and  seventy.  But  in  the  neighborhood  of  Placerville  the 
gold  rises,  in  most  cases,  up  to  nine  hundred,  and  in  some 
places  thereabout  much  higher  still.  At  Coon  Hollow,  a  pecu- 
liar kind  of  dust  of  a  dark,  rusty  appearance  is  found,  which  is 
over  nine  hundred  and  forty  fine. 

"  10.  In  Amador  county,  around  Dry  town,  Jackson  and 
Volcano,  the  fineness  of  gold  is  rather  below  the  general  aver- 
age. 

"  11.  In  Calaveras  county,  great  varieties  occur  in  this 
respect,  Mokelumne  Hill  gold  is  seldom  above  eight  hundred 
and  ninety ;  San  Andres  averages  eight  hundred  and  ninety ; 
Campo  Seco,  nine  hundred  and  five ;  Vallecito  rises  up  to  nine 
hundred  and  ten  to  nine  hundred  and  twenty. 

"  12.  Tuolumne  is  the  county  most  renowned  for  the  fineness 
of  its  gold.  Sonora  and  Columbia  dust  seldom  falls  below 
nine  hundred,  and  often  rises  above  nine  hundred  and  fifty. 


CHEMISTRY   OF   GOLD.  53 

The  average  may  be  marked  down  at  nine  hundred  and  thirty. 
This  gold  is  generally  rough  amj  coarse  grained,  and  of  a  very 
rich  color. 

"  13.  In  the  adjoining  county,  Mariposa,  the  fineness  of  the 
precious  metal  decreases  very  sensibly ;  the  average  can  scarcely 
be  put  higher  than  eight  hundred  and  fifty. 

"  14.  Still  farther  south,  on  the  upper  San  Joaquin  and  its 
first  tributaries,  the  rivers  Chowchilla  and  Fresno,  the  fineness 
of  the  gold  falls  below  eight  hundred,  and  sometimes  even  as 
low  as  seven  hundred.  This  dust  consists  generally  of  diminu- 
tive spangles,  of  a  treacherously  rich  appearance,  intermixed 
with  curiously  elongated,  almost  needle-shaped  grains. 

"15.  The  lowest  degree  of  fineness  of  gold  in  this  State  is 
found  in  the  most  southern  parts,  on  the  diggings  of  Kern  river 
and  its  numerous  branches.  This  gold  seldom  reaches  above 
seven  hundred,  and  often  falls  down  to  near  six  hundred.  Its 
average  fineness  may  be  fixed  at  six  hundred  and  sixty. 

"  16.  Carson  Valley  dust,  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Sierra 
Nevada,  although  beautiful  to  the  eye,  is  also  exceedingly  low 
— generally  below  eight  hundred. 

u  1 7.  Gila  and  Columbia  river  gold  is  of  a  very  small  descrip- 
tion, with  grains  similar  to  Australian  gold.  Some  parcels 
of  it  have  shown  the  fineness  of  above  nine  hundred  and  sev- 
enty ;  others  fell  below  nine  hundred  and  twenty." 


CHAPTER     IV. 

THE   GEOLOGY  OF  GOLD. 


The  Formation  of  Gold.  §  46.  It  has  already  been 
stated,  that  all  the  placer  gold  came  from  quartz  veins  which 
have  been  broken  up  or  disintegrated.  We  do  not  know  how 
the  gold  got  into  the  quartz,  but  we  have  surmises.  Our  ig- 
norance is  not  so  gross  as  that  of  the  miners  of  California,  as 
a  body,  in  1849,  who  supposed  the  precious  metal  had  been 
thrown  out  by  a  volcano  or  some  mysterious  source,  and  that 
some  lucky  individual  would  find  the  "  fountain  head  "  of  the 
gold,  and  get  enough  of  the  metal  to  load  a  dozen  ships.  This 
erroneous  impression  led  many  an  enterprising  miner  to  give 
credit  to  wild  stories,  and  to  desert  diggings  that  paid  from 
twenty  to  fifty  dollars  per  day,  in  the  hope"  of  finding  the 
"  fountain  head."  Although  our  present  knowledge  lacks  com- 
pleteness, yet  we  know  enough  now  to  perceive  the  absurdity 
of  those  ideas  of  1849. 

Quartz  the  Mother  of  Gold.  |  47.  According  to 
common  language,  "  quartz  is  the  mother  of  gold  ;  "  in  other 
words,  all  native  gold  is  or  was  encased  in  quartz.  The  gold 
of  the  placers  lias  been  set  free  by  the  breaking  up  of  quartz  ; 
the  gold  found  in  granite,  serpentine,  limestone,  or  other  rock, 
is  supposed  to  have  been  communicated  from  adjacent  quartz, 
when  both  were  in  a  state  of  fusion.  We  do  not  know  why 
gold  is  found  originally  only  in  quartz,  nor  how  it  got  there. 
There  is  no  theory  known  to  me  about  the  why ;  there  are 
several  about  the  how. 

The  Igneous  Theory.  §  48.  The  first  theory  to  ex- 
plain the  manner  in  which  the  gold  in  auriferous  quartz  veins 
got  into  the  rock  is,  that  quartz  was  forced  up  in  a  liquid  state 


THE    GEOLOGY   OF    GOLD.  55 

from  the  molten  center  of  the  earth,  and  then  contained  the 
gold  now  found  there.  In  favor  of  this  theory  it  is  argued, 
that  quartz  is  igneous  in  its  whole  character  ;  that  it  is  never 
found  lying  flat  like  aqueous  rocks  generally  ;  that  it  has  none 
of  the  stratification,  peculiar  crystallization,  or  petrifactions, 
found  in  rocks  deposited  in  water  ;  that  it  is  formed  in  deep, 
narrow  veins,  like  eruptive  rocks  generally ;  that  if  it  be  ig- 
neous, that  fact  would  almost,  of  itself,  prove  the  truth  of  this 
theory ;  that  auriferous  quartz  is  sometimes  so  compact  and 
hard  that  the  gold  could  not  have  been  introduced  into  it  in 
any  other  manner  than  when  both  were  in  a  state  of  fusion  ; 
that  sometimes  two  veins  of  quartz  have  been  observed  to  cross 
each  other,  one  auriferous,  and  the  other  barren  in  its  general 
character  ;  the  latter  is  usually  auriferous,  too,  for  some  distance 
on  one  side  of  the  intersection,  as  though  the  barren  stream  had 
flowed  through  the  rich  one  when  both  were  in  a  state  of 
fusion  ;  that  where  auriferous  quartz  veins  dip,  as  they  usually 
do,  the  lode  is  richest  on  the  lower  side,  next  the  foot  wall,  as 
though  the  heavier  metal  had  settled  down ;  .that  in  those 
places  in  the  lode  where  this  streak  is  richest,  quartz  over  it  is 
the  poorest ;  and,  finally,  that  no  other  theory  has  so  much 
evidence  in  its  favor.  On  the  other  side  it  is  argued,  that  the 
heat  necessary  to  melt  quartz  would  drive  gold  off  in  a  vapor  ; 
that  if  it  were  not  volatilized,  being  eight  times  heavier  than 
quartz,  it  would  necessarily  sink  to  the  bottom  of  the  fused 
quartz  ;  whereas,  it  is  never  found  collected  in  large  masses,  but 
often  in  small  particles,  very  evenly  distributed  through  the 
rock ;  that  the  quartz  being  the  first  to  harden,  would  shoot 
its  crystals  through  the  gold,  which  in  fact  it  never  has  done, 
whereas  the  gold  not  unfrequently  shoots  its  crystals  through 
the  interstices  of  the  quartz ;  that  compact  quartz  is  almost 
invariably  poor  in  gold  ;  and  that  rich  quartz  usually  contains, 
about  the  gold,  much  sulphurets  of  iron  and  copper,  which 
appear  to  have  been  deposited  there  at  the  same  time  with  the 
gold,  and  yet  could  not  have  been  there  under  any  high  heat, 
which  would  decompose  them  and  drive  them  off. 

The  Vapor  Theory.  §49.  The  second  theory  is,  that 
the  gold  was  precipitated  from  a  vapor  under  electrical  or 
chemical  influences.  As  evidences  for  this  theory  are,  that 
rich  auriferous  rock  is  usually  full  of  crevices  and  fissures,  so 
that  vapors  could  pass  through  it ;  that  the  sulphurets  accom- 


56  HAND-BOOK    OF    MINING. 

panying  gold  must  have  been  deposited  from  vapors,  which 
might  also  have  deposited  the  gold  ;  and  that  auriferous  quartz 
is  always  richest  near  the  surface,  as  though  the  metal  had  not 
been  deposited  by  the  vapor  until  it  approached  the  air  and 
coolness.  Another  evidence  of  this  theory  is  found  in  an  as- 
sertion that  a  hole  drilled  into  auriferous  quartz  in  the  Ural, 
and  intended  to  be  used  for  blasting,  but  never  so  used,  was 
examined  forty  years  after  it  was  made,  and  found  to  be  full  of 
fine  crystals  of  gold.  Nearly  every  argument  against  the  first 
theory  is  used  in  favor  of  this,  and  nearly  every  argument  for 
that  is  used  against  this. 

The  Aqueous  Theory.  §  50.  The  third  theory  is, 
that  auriferous  quartz  was  formed  under  aqueous  influences, 
and  that  the  gold  was  deposited  or  precipitated  at  the  same 
time  with  the  quartz.  It  is  known  that  quartz  can  be  dissolved 
in  water  heated  to  a  high  heat,  under  a  heavy  pressure. 

These  are  the  theories,  but  neither  one  commands  the  con- 
fident belief  of  geologists. 

Overman  says  :  ( Treatise  on  Metallurgy,  p.  50)  "  all  the 
veins  and  masses  which  do  not  run  parallel  with  the  strata  of 
rock,  it  may  be  assumed,  are  filled  rents.  With  regard  to  the 
manner  in  which  the  rent  has  been  filled,  different  forces  have 
been  acting,  and  the  nature  of  the  deposit  assumes,  accordingly, 
a  different  aspect.  Lodes  which  are  wide  at  the  top,  with  smooth 
walls  of  the  same  material  on  both  sides,  we  are  justified  in  as- 
suming to  be  wedge-shaped,  thinning  gradually  in  the  converg- 
ence of  their  walls.  The  mineral  and  foreign  matters  having 
been  introduced  from  the  surface  of  the  ground,  have  been 
carried  along  by  a  current  of  water.  Are  the  walls  of  a  vein 
rough,  and  do  they  show  signs  of  having  been  under  the  in- 
fluence of  a  higher  heat  than  the  surrounding  rock  generally  ? 
we  are  warranted  to  conclude  that  the  rent  has  been  caused 
and  filled  by  an  expansive  force  from  below.  In  the  latter  case, 
we  expect  an  increase  of  mineral  with  the  depth ;  and  in  the 
first,  a  decrease  of  it.  Since  the  bulk  of  mineral  veins  is  com- 
posed of  sulph.urets,  and  these  are  volatile,  we  conclude  that 
all  fissures,  pockets  and  cavities,  which  are  filled  by  sulphurets, 
have  been  so  filled  by  the  vapors  of  those  metals  deposited  in 
the  cavities.  The  lead  ores  of  Missouri  and  Arkansas  owe 
iheir  origin  to  this  cause ;  also  the  gold  ores  of  the  Southern 
States,  and,  in  fact,  most  of  the  pyriteous  ores  of  the  Eastern 
States." 


THE    GEOLOGY   OF    GOLD.  57 

The  "Country"  of  Gold.  J  51.  Auriferous  quartz 
is  always  found  near  granite  and  slate.  It  is  useless  to  seek  for 
gold  in  places  where  the  fundamental  granite  or  "  bed-rock  " 
of  the  earth  is  covered,  thousands  of  feet  deep,  with  aqueous 
rocks,  such  as  the  coal  beds  of  Pennsylvania  or  the  blue  lime- 
stone of  south-western  Ohio.  But  where  quartz,  slate  and 
granite  are  found  together,  there  gold  will  probably  be  also. 
The  Sierra  Nevada  mountains  are  chiefly  of  granite,  with  some 
slate,  trap;  trachyte,  serpentine  and  metamorphic  limestone,  in 
the  gold  region  ;  and  near  the  level  of  the  Sacramento  basin, 
some  sandstone. 

Rules  of  Quartz  Veins.  $  52.  Auriferous  quartz 
veins,  in  California,  have  usually  a  direction  from  north-north- 
west to  south-southeast,  and  a  steep  dip  to  the  eastward.  The 
thickness  varies  from  a  line  to  fifty  feet.  The  quartz  is  gen- 
erally white,  or  blueish-white  in  color,  with  rusty  streaks  or 
spots,  caused  by  the  decomposition  of  iron  pyrites.  The  gold 
is  never  equally  diffused  through  the  rock  ;  some  parts  of  the 
vein  are  always  richer  than  others.  Quartz  containing  two 
ounces  of  gold  to  a  pound  of  rock  is  very  rich,  and  is  a  rarity, 
or  at  least  a  subject  of  admiration  among  all  quartz  miners, 
and  in  every  district.  The  richest  parts  of  a  vein  are  in 
streaks.  There  is  almost  invariably  a  rich  streak  along  the 
foot-wall,  or  in  the  lower  side  of  the  lode,  and  this  is  often  the 
only  part  of  a  vein  that  will  pay  for  working.  All  the  gold  of 
a  lode  has  a  uniform  character ;  that  is,  the  particles  bear  a 
general  resemblance  to  each  other,  in  size,  and  in  chemical 
fineness.  There  are  exceptions,  however.  Sometimes  a  lode 
will  have  several  rich  streaks,  one  of  coarse  particles,  another 
of  fine,  and  of  different  chemical  fineness.  Lodes  ate  found, 
too,  in  which  the  rich  streaks  are  nq£  parallel  with  each 
other,  nor  with  the  plane  of  the  vein.  Nearly  all  rocks 
have  some  kind  of  a  grain,  cleavage  or  stratification,  and 
metalliferous  veins  run  with  or  across  the  direction  of  this 
cleavage.  It  is  a  general  rule  that  the  most  extensive  veins 
are  those  which  run  across  the  cleavage  of  the  "  country,"  or 
"  bed-rock."  The  veins  which  follow  the  plane  of  cleavage  of 
the  "  bed-rock  "  are  often  small  deposits,  which,  though  they 
may  be  richer  than  the  transverse  lodes,  are  yet  soon  exhausted. 
Another  general  rule  is,  that  metalliferous  lodes  are  richest 
where  several  branches  of  the  vein,  after  having  spread  out, 


58  HAND-BOOK    OP   MINING. 

unite  again,  and  are  compressed  within  a  narrow  space.  A 
third  rule  is,  that  lodes  are  usually  rich  where  they  cross  from 
one  rock  to  another,  and  where  they  have  one  kind  of  rock  for 
the  hanging-wall  and  another  kind  for  the  foot-wall.  Marcou 
(Geology  of  North  America,  p.  82)  says  the  richest  quartz 
veins  of  California  are  found  where  sienitic  granite  and  trap 
meet. 

Quartz  Veins  Poorer  as  they  Descend.    \  53. 

It  is  the  general  opinion  of  the  quartz  miners  of  California, 
that  auriferous  quartz  leads  become  poorer  as  they  leave  the 
surface.  This,  also,  is  the  opinion  of  miners  and  mineralogists 
who  know  something  of  gold  mining  in  other  countries.  (Zer- 
renner  Anleitung,  p.  10;  Zerrenner  Russlands  Bergwerk's 
Production,  p.  18  ;  Oscar  Lieber,  Gangstudien,  vol.  in,  p. 
506.)  The  last-named  authority  states  that  in  one  lead  in 
North  Carolina,  the  gold  near  the  surface  was  of  a  higher 
chemical  fineness  than  that  deep  down  ;  and  that  the  line  divid- 
ing the  rich  from  the  poor  metal  could  be  distinctly  traced 
with  the  naked  eye,  by  the  difference  between  the  color  of  the 
metal  above  and .  below.  It  has  been  asserted,  too,  that  the 
gold  obtained  from  certain  quartz  claims  in  California  is  not 
worth  so  much  per  ounce,  as  gold  taken  from  the  same  claims 
eight  years  ago,  and  nearer  the  surface.  There  are  numerous 
rich  lodes  of  auriferous  quartz  in  Washoe,  and  the  opinion  is 
frequently  expressed,  that,  after  going  down  two  or  three  hun- 
dred feet,  the  gold  will  probably  disappear,  and  its  place  will 
be  supplied  by  silver.  Veins  of  auriferous  quartz  are  often 
wider  below  the  ground  than  at  the  surface,  and  some  persons 
say  that  in  such  cases,  a  square  yard  cut  across  the  vein,  near 
the  top,  will  contain  as  much  gold  as  a  square  yard  cut  across 
deep  down,  where  thTvein  is  twice  as  wide,  and  where,  conse- 
quently, the  amount  of  rock  is  twice  as  great.  I  do  not  con- 
sider these  ideas,  however,  to  be  proved,  fully.  Some  persons 
who  have  seen  much  of  quartz  mining,  express  the  opinion 
that  quartz  leads  are  as  rich,  deep  in  the  ground,  as  near  the 
surface. 

The  Great  Quartz  Vein  of  California.    §  54. 

Mr.  S.  V.  Blakeslee  has  written  thus  of  the  auriferous  quartz 
of  the  Sierra  Nevada  : 

"  To  appearance,  no  order  or  system  prevails  in  the  distri- 


THE   GEOLOGY   OF   GOLD.  59 

bution  of  the  gold-bearing  veins  scattered  here  and  there 
through  all  parts  of  the  mining  regions;  but,  evidently,  a 
thorough  geological  survey  of  the  State  might  reduce  them 
to  a  fair  system  of  trunks  and  branches.  Yet,  a  little  observa- 
tion of  their  localities  will  reveal  one  great  leading  vein,  taking 
precedence  of  all  others,  running  along  the  Sierra  Nevada,  lying 
about  an  average  distance  of  sixty  miles  west  of  their  sum- 
mits ;  and  although  broken  at  intervals,  and  irregular,  yet 
extending  along  a  good  portion  of  the  length  of  the  State. 
Vast  quartz  mining  operations  are  already  going  on  at  differ- 
ent points,  and  we  do  not  doubt  that  this  vein  will  in  time 
yield  more  gold  than  the  present  circulating  currency  of  the 
world.  It  deserves  a  distinctive  name,  as  much  so  as  the  great 
rivers,  seas,  and  mountains  of  the  earth ;  but  at  present  we 
can  refer  to  it  only  as  the  Great  Gold-bearing  Quartz  Yein  of 
California. 

"  In  thickness,  it  varies  from  two  to  twelve  or  sixteen  feet'; 
yet  in  a  few  places  it  deepens  to  many  rods.  On  each  side  are 
commonly  numberless  accompanying  smaller  veins,  diminishing 
in  thickness  to  a  mere  line.  The  great  vein  is  generally  desti- 
tute of  more  than  a  trace  of  gold,  while  side  veins,  only  a  few 
rods  from  it,  may  be  immensely  rich,  supported  by  the  great 
vein  as  the  fruit-bearing  branches  of  a  tree  are  supported  by 
the  trunk.  The  great  vein  is  generally  composed  of  solid, 
white,  crystalized  quartz ;  while  the  side  veins  are  of  every 
variety  of  feature,  varying  to  a  light  porous  ore  of  iron,  or  soft, 
red,  clay-like  material.  This,  on  being  carefully  washed,  will 
often  yield  a  large  amount  of  the  brightest,  finest,  and  most 
beautiful  dust  of  gold,  while  in  other  instances,  the  gold  appears 
left  by  the  disintegrated  vein  as  a  pure,  porous  mass  of  spangles, 
balls,  and  shapeless  forms,  just  adhering  to  each  othef  where 
they  touch.  Yet  this  last  is  very  uncommon,  as  the  interstices 
between  the  particles  are  generally  filled  with  quartz. 

"  We  have  personally  visited  this  vein,  only  from  Coulter- 
ville,  Mariposa  county,  thence  north  through  Tuolumne,  Cala- 
veras,  Amador,  El  Dorado,  Placer,  Nevada,  and  Butte  coun- 
ties ;  yet  to  the  south,  at  least,  we  know  it  extends  indefinitely. 
The  vein  is  not  always  evident  above  ground.  In  some 
places  it  disappears  for  miles  under  the  surface,  and  again 
appears ;  in  other  places  it  is  lost  for  only  a  few  rods.  It 
especially  appears  at  ravines,  or  other  depressions  in  the  sur- 
face. It  descends  under  the  ravines,  but  appears  capping 


60  HAND-BOOK    OF   MINING. 

hills  and  mountains,  towering  in  sharp  points,  at  some  places 
five  hundred  and  a  thousand  feet  high.  Thus,  just  north  of 
Cpulterville,  this  vein  can  be  seen  from  higher  elevations, 
whitening  the  scene  with  peaked  elevations  for  ten  miles  to  the 
north.  It  then  disappears  under  the  Tuolumne  river  canon. 
In  three  miles  it  again  appears  at  Algerine  ;  again  disappear- 
ing under  Sullivan  Creek,  it  reappears  at  Poverty  Hill,  pass- 
ing through  and  capping  a  mountain  four  hundred  feet  in 
hight ;  then  continues  near  seven  miles  by  Jamestown.  It 
next  descends  under  the  canon  of  Stanislaus,  and  suddenly 
rises  on  the  north,  capping  Carson  Hill  twelve  hundred  feet 
high;  then  continues  by  Albany  Flat  and  Angel's  Camp. 
From  here  it  seems  to  disappear  for  a  number  of  miles,  oc- 
casionally exhibiting  traces  of  itself  by  Mokelumne  Hill,  to 
the  north  side  of  the  cafion  of  the  Mokelumne  river,  where  it 
again  appears  in  distinct  form  at  Butte  City,  Jackson,  S utter 
Creek,  Amador  and  Dryto.wn.  Beyond  this,  it  cannot  as  yet 
be  so  easily  and  distinctly  traced  ;  but  we  are  confident  that, 
ultimately,  the  rich  veins  in  the  region  of  Placerville,  El  Do- 
rado county,  a  few  near  Auburn,  Placer  county,  those  of  Grass 
Valley,  Nevada  county,  and  Frenchtown,  Butte  county,  will 
all  be  found  to  belong  to  this  same  great  vein,  appearing  and 
disappearing  at  different  places,  but  really  continuous  under 
ground." 

Formation  of  the  Placers.  §  55.  It  is  supposed 
that  at  some  period,  extremely  remote  in  the  past,  the  whole 
surface  of  the  earth  was  rock,  which  was  worn  away  by  the 
action  of  the  air  and  water,  and  became  loam,  clay,  sand,  gravel 
and  so  forth,  which  were  deposited  under  water,  and  then  in 
places  raised  by  subterranean  forces  into  the  open  air,  and  worn 
into  their  present  shapes  of  hills,  valleys,  ravines  and  gullies  by 
the  action  of  other  waters.  We  see,  for  instance,  that  many 
of  the  hills  and  mountains  along  the  eastern  side  of  the  Sacra- 
mento basin,  are  made  up  of  gravel  evidently  worn  round  in 
*  water,  by  long  rubbing  against  other  pieces  of  gravel,  sand 
and  clay,  all  lying  in  layers,  evidently  deposited  regularly,  at 
the  same  time  and  in  the  same  manner,  over  a  large  extent  of 
country.  There  were  once  no  valleys  between  these  hills  ;  the 
present  irregularity  of  surface  has  all  been  caused  by  streams 
of  water,  which  have  carried  away  large  portions  of  the  earth 
and  gravel  previously  deposited  there.  In  the  gold  region,  the 


THE   GEOLOGY   OF   GOLD.  6.1 

auriferous  quartz  was  broken  up  and  worn  away  like  other 
rock  ;  the  light  material  of  the  quartz  was  carried  far  away  by 
the  water  ;  the  heavy  gold  did  not  move  far  from  the  original 
position  of  its  original  quartz  vein.  It  did  move,  however ; 
it  was  carried  down  steep  hill-sides  into  the  beds  of  gullies, 
ravines,  brooks  and  rivers.  The  pieces  of  gold  were  rough  and 
irregular  in  shape  when  they  were  freed  from  the  quartz  ;  but 
as  they  were  carried  along  by  the  water  and  rubbed  against 
rolling  stones  and  gravel,  the  angles  were  rounded  off;  and 
those  carried  very  far  were  smashed  up  and  broken  into  little 
pieces,  and  converted  into  flakes,  scales  or  grains.  Coarse  gold 
is  never  found  far  from  the  place  of  its  maternal  quartz  ;  the 
gold  on  the  bars  of  large  streams  is  usually  fine,  and  sometimes 
fine  gold  is  found  in  very  short  ravines. 

In  1849,  Californian  miners  divided  the  gold  dust  into  the 
two  general  divisions  of  "  river  "  and  "  gulch."  "  River  gold  " 
is  usually  fine  and  smooth  ;  "  gulch  gold  "  coarse  and  rough. 
The  particles  of  gold  in  auriferous  quartz  are  irregular  in  shape, 
rough,  and  full  of  sharp  angles ;  after  they  are  liberated  from 
the  rock,  and  washed  down  the  gullies  by  water,  they  are 
smashed  flat,  broken  into  pieces,  and  worn  smooth.  The  differ- 
ent forms  of  placer  gold  often  appear  within  very  short  dis- 
tances of  each  other.  Thus,  I  have  known  two  short  gullies, 
parallel  with  each  other,  and  not  more  than  one  hundred  yards 
apart,  to  have  different  kinds  of  dust — one  coarse,  the  other  fine. 

Near  Prairie  City,  in  El  Dorado  county,  there  is  a  hill  sev- 
eral miles  long,  on  one  side  of  which  all  the  gold  is  round  and 
shot-like,  and  on  the  other  side  it  is  all  in  scales. 

Persons  experienced  in  buying  gold  dust,  can  often  tell  by 
the  size  and  shape  of  the  particles — or  could  six  or  eigty  years 
ago,  when  most  of  the  gold  was  from  the  placers — whence  it 
came.  Knowing  the  place,  they  could  determine  the  value, 
knowing  what  gold  from  the  same  place  had  previously  assayed. 
The  color  of  dust  depends  much  on  the  material  in  which  it  has 
been  imbedded,  and  this  color  often  decieves  inexperienced  gold 
buyers.  A  jeweler  can  guess  very  near  the  fineness  of  golden 
jewelry  by  its  color ;  but  there  is  much  more  danger  of  error  in 
examining  gold  dust.  After  it  is  melted,  more  reliance  can  be 
placed  upon  the  color. 

Near  the  Tuolumne  river,  there  is  a  "  black  lead,"  from 
which  all  the  gold  was  coarse,  and  covered  with  a  black  cover- 
ing resembling  enamel,  which  adhered  to  the  metal  very  stub- 


62  HAND-BOOK    OP    MINING. 

bornly.     It  was  removed  by  heat,  rubbing  and  washing  in 
strong  lye. 

Diluvial  and  Alluvial  Placers.  g  56.  Placer  gold 
diggings  may  be  divided  into  two  classes,  the  "  diluvial  "  and 
the  "  alluvial."  I  call  those  diggings  diluvial  where  the  aurif- 
erous dirt  was  deposited  in  a  large  body  of  standing  water,  and 
simultaneously  over  a  large  district,  as  is  the  case  with  many 
of  the  hills  and  flats  in  the  State.  It  is  evident  that  the  great 
body  of  the  auriferous  dirt  in  some  of  the  largest  counties,  was 
deposited  at  one  time  in  a  sea  or  large  lake.  I  call  all  these 
deposits  diluvial,  as  if  made  under  the  influence  of  a  deluge. 
That  these  deposits  were  made  in  a  very  remote  age,  is  evident 
from  many  facts.  The  bones  of  mastodons  and  other  gigantic 
animals  of  species  long  extinct,  are  often  found  in  them.  The 
deposits  are  found  spread  with  similar  strata  over  large  dis- 
tricts, and  in  positions  where  they  could  not  have  been  placed 
by  the  present  streams  of  the  country.  "  Alluvial  "  applies  to 
the  deposits  made  under  the  influence  of  rivers  ;  "  diluvial  "  to 
deposits  made  when  the  whole  country  was  under  water.  The 
alluvial  placers  have  been  formed  where  streams  of  water  have 
run  through  these  diluvial  deposits  after  they  were  raised  to 
the  air,  have  swept  away  much  of  the  dirt,  and  have  changed 
the  position  of  the  gold.  The  diluvial  diggings  usually  lie 
deep,  and  are  buried  under  many  different  strata.  The  strata 
oi  auriferous  dirt  differ  greatly  in  thickness  and  composition ; 
they  may  be  only  six  inches  thick  or  a  hundred  feet ;  they  may 
be  of  clay,  sand,  fine  or  coarse  gravel,  but  usually  they  are  of 
strong  clay,  containing  gravel  and  water-worn  stones  from  the 
size  of  an  egg  to  that  of  a  bushel  basket.  Sometimes  differ- 
ent layers  of  auriferous  dirt  will  be  found,  containing  gold  of 
different  characters.  For  instance :  there  may  be  a  hill  two  hun- 
dred feet  deep  ;  at  the  bottom  may  be  a  stratum  of  blue  clay 
two  feet  thick,  containing  much  coarse  gold  ;  then  a  stratum  of 
barren  gravel  three  feet  thick ;  then  a  stratum  of  yellow  clay 
six  inches  thick,  with  fine  scale  gold  ;  then  a  stratum  of  barren 
sand  three  feet  thick ;  then  a  stratum  of  gray,  gravelly  clay 
eighteen  inches  thick,  with  coarse  shot-gold ;  and  finally,  one 
hundred  and  ninety  feet  of  red  gravelly  clay,  containing  fine 
gold  scattered  all  through  it.  It  is  expected,  as  a  general  rule, 
that  the  richest  dirt  will  be  found  next  the  bed  rock  ;  but  some- 
times rich  strata  have  been  found  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  above 


THE   GEOLOGY   OF    GOLD.  63 

the  bed  rock,  and  nothing  farther  down.  The  diluvial  diggings 
are  seldom  rich,  as  compared  with  the  stream  placers  ;  they  will 
rarely  pay,  unless  when  worked  with  the  sluice. 

Ancient  and  Modern  Streams.  \  57.  The  alluvial 
placers  may  be  divided  into  ancient  and  modern.  The  ancient 
are  those  formed  by  streams  which  no  longer  exist,  or  have 
found  new  channels.  Two  very  remarkable  examples  of  the 
ancient  stream  placers  are  found  in  California  ;  one  called  the 
Blue  Lead  of  Sierra  county,  the  other  Table  Mountain  in 
Tuolumne  county.  It  is  supposed  that  the  Blue  Lead  was  once 
the  bed  of  a  large  river,  about  fifty  miles  eastward  of  the  pres- 
ent position  of  Sacramento  river,  and  parallel  with  its  course. 
Table  Mountain  is  a  pile  of  basalt,  standing  on  what  was,  in 
the  remote  past,  the  bed  of  a  river  nearly  parallel  with  the 
Stanislaus.  These  ancient  and  deserted  channels  are  not  rare, 
and  are  found  from  a  very  small  to  a  very  large  <size.  They 
are  usually  buried  at  a  considerable  depth  beneath  dirt  and 
gravel.  Sometimes  they  are  found  high  above  the  level  of  the 
present  streams  running  near  them. 

The  modern  stream  diggings  may  be  divided  again  into  the 
constant  and  the  intermittent — or  the  never-failing  streams, 
and  those  which  are  dry  during  a  portion  of  the  year.  The 
summer  and  fall  are  so  dry  in  the  interior  of  California,  that 
only  those  streams  which  are  very  large  in  the  winter  run 
throughout  the  year,  and  all  the  small  creeks,  brooks,  ravines 
and  gullies  go  dry. 

Blake's  Classification,  \  58.  W.  P.  Blake  (Pacific 
Railroad  Report,  vol.  v,  p.  217)  classifies  the  placers  0f  Cali- 
fornia as  follows  : 

1.  A  coarse,  boulder-like  drift,  the  result  of  great  abrasion 
and  powerful  currents  in  a  great  body  of  water. 

2.  A  river  drift  or  coarse  alluvium,  ancient  and  modern. 

3.  Alluvial  deposits  on  flats  and  over  broad  surfaces,  not 
confined  to  river  channels. 

4.  Lacustrine  deposits,  made  at  the  bottoms  of  former  lakes 
or  ponds. 

"  Lacustrine  deposits,"  says  he,  "  are  found  in  extensive, 
basin-shaped  depressions,  in  the  surface  of  metamorphic  rocks. 
These  depressions  have  evidently  been  filled  with  deep,  quiet 
water,  from  which  thick  strata  of  clay,  fine  sand  and  volcanic 


64  HAND-BOOK    OF    MINING. 

ashes  have  been  deposited  upon  the  auriferous  layer  at  the 
bottom.  The  deposits  at  Georgetown  and  Cement  Hill  are 
examples  of  this  class.  They  are  more  nearly  allied  to  the 
alluvial  deposits  of  the  '  flats  '  than  to  either  of  the  other  forms 
under  which  the  auriferous  drift  appears.  The  section  of  the 
strata  at  Mameluke  Hill  shows  that  the  deposition  of  clay  and 
volcanic  ashes  from  the  lake  was  interrupted,  and  that  a  layer 
of  auriferous  gravel  was  spread  out  over  the  surface  of  the 
clay,  after  which  the  former  condition's  were  restored.  This 
alternation,  or  a  series  of  auriferous  and  non-auriferous  materials 
stratigraphically  deposited,  forms  a  well-marked  difference  be- 
tween the  lacustrine  deposits  and  those  of  the  flats. 

"  Great  changes  have  been  produced  in  all  of  these  deposits,  of 
denudation  and  erosion,  during  and  since  the  elevation  of  the 
region  to  its  present  level.  The  old  rivers  changed  their  beds, 
lakes  were  drained,  and  new  streams  cut  their  way  through 
great  deposits  of  coarse  [diluvial]  drift,  through  lacustrine  de- 
posits, and  across  the  ancient  river  courses.  But  the  action  of 
the  denuding  streams  has  not  been  confined  to  the  superficial 
deposits,  either  auriferous  or  tertiary  ;  they  have  eroded  great 
valleys  and  canons  in  the  underlying  rocks,  both  of  granite,  and 
limestone,  and  slate  ;  all  are  cut  through  and  traversed  by  long 
valleys,  nearly  transverse  to  the  trend  of  the  rocks.  These 
valleys  of  erosion  are  on  a  most  magnificent  scale,  and  may  be 
regarded  as  deep  ravines  in  a  formerly  unbroken  plateau  or 
slope. 

"  On  the  forks  of  the  American  river,  these  eroded  valleys  are 
from  1,500  to  3,000  feet  deep,  and  the  traveler  who  desires  to 
cross  from  one  bank  to  the  opposite  side,  must  wind  in  a  zig- 
zag line  down  one  side,  and  in  a  similar  manner  up  the  other, 
traversing  a  distance,  in  most  cases,  of  three  miles,  while  in  a 
direct  line  it  may  be  but  little  more  than  a  mile  from  one  bank 
to  the  other.  All  this  erosion  has  taken  place  since  the  original 
deposition  of  the  gold  ;  and  it  is  probable  that  the  gold  of  the 
streams  is  derived  from  the  original  deposits  of  coarse  drift, 
rather  than  from  the  action  of  the. rivers  on  the  veins,  although 
a  very  considerable  quantity  of  gold  must  have  been  liberated 
from  the  veins  by  their  action.  The  great  currents  or  floods 
which  produced  the  drift,  were  much  more  gradual  and  wide- 
spread in  their  action,  and  appear  to  have  abraded  the  whole 
surface,  rather  than  mere  lines  or  channels." 


THE   GEOLOGY   OP   GOLD.  65 

Position  of  the  Pay-Dirt.  §  59.  In  the  auriferous 
gullies  and  ravines,  the  pay-dirt  is  usually  as  wide  as  the  cur- 
rent of  water  during  heavy  rains.  It  is  customary  to  speak  of 
"  the  golden  sands  of  California  ;"  but  a  person  who  should  be- 
lieve that  the  gold  is  found  in  pure  sand,  would  be  far  wrong. 
Usually,  the  pay-dirt  is  a  very  stiff  clay,  full  of  large  gravel  and 
stones.  The  depth  of  this  pay-dirt  varies.  In  a  gully  where 
the  water  is  not  more  than  five  feet  wide  in  the  heaviest  rain, 
the  pay-dirt  will  not  usually  be  more  than  a  foot  deep.  Between 
the  pay-dirt  and  the  water  there  is  ordinarily  some  barren  dirt, 
which  is  thrown  away  or  "  stripped  off"  before  washing  com- 
mences. The  barren  dirt,  as  a  general  rule,  contains  more 
sand  and  less  clay  than  the  pay-dirt.  Sometimes,  when  the 
channel  in  a  small  gulch  has  changed  a  little,  the  pay-dirt  may 
be  covered  with  six  or  eight  feet  of  fertile,  loamy  soil.  In 
places  where  the  bed-rock  of  a  gully  is  smooth  or  steep,  the 
gold  usually  slips  down,  and  in  such  spots  the  pay-dirt  will  not 
be  so  rich  as  where  the  bed  is  level,  and  where  the  strata  of 
the  rock  are  nearly  perpendicular,  and  thus  present  many  points 
to  obstruct  the  passage  of  the  gold.  The  heavier  pieces  of  gold 
are  ordinarily  found  near  the  bed-rock,  and  in  the  deepest  part 
of  the  channel.  The  diggings  on  the  constant  streams  or  rivers 
may  be  divided  into  "  bar  "  and  "  bed  "  diggings.  The  bars 
are  those  banks  of  gravel  and  sand  which  are  covered  by  the 
river  at  high  water,  but  are  bare  at  low  water ;  the  bed 
diggings  are  in  those  places  covered  by  water  at  the  lowest 
stage.  The  bars  are  usually  found  at  curves  of  the  streams, 
on  the  inner  side.  The  richest  bars  are  usually  those  found 
near  the  mouths  of  canons  ;  and  those  spots  are  richest  near 
where  the  water  has  its  strongest  eddy  when  the  bar  is  over- 
flowed, and  near  the  limit  of  low  water.  The  distribution  of 
gold  in  river  beds  follows  laws  similar  to  those  prevalent  in 
regard  to  gullies.  In  places  where  the  stream  is  swift  and  the 
bed-rock  smooth,  little  gold  is  found  ;  and  the  head  of  a  stretch 
nearly  level  is  richer  than  its  foot,  and  the  largest  pieces  are 
found  in  the  deepest  parts  of  the  channel,  and  so  forth. 

Geological  Character  of.  the  Coast,    g  60.  The 

geology  of  this  coast  has  never  been  thoroughly  studied.  The 
great  bulk  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  and  the  Cascade  mountains 
is  composed  of  granite,  covered  in  places  by  trap,  trachyte, 
basalt,  serpentine,  limestone,  slate,  lava,  quartz  and  diluvium. 


66  HAND-BOOK   OF    MINING. 

The  Coast  Range  is  a  sandstone,  with  occasional  trap  and 
granites.  The  valley  between  the  Sierra  Nevada  and  the 
Coast  Kange,  extending  from  Puget  Sound  to  Tejon  Pass — 
for  it  was  originally  but  one  valley,  though  now  separated  by 
the  Siskiyou,  Umpqua  and  Calapooya  mountains — is  a  mass 
of  diluvium,  from  200  to  500  feet  deep,  lying  on  tertiary  sand- 
stone. The  country  east  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  is  mostly 
covered  with  trap,  other  eruptive  rocks  of  various  classes,  and 
granite. 

Volcanic  Mountains.  $  61.  Many  of  the  mountains 
are  of  volcanic  origin,  and  all  the  highest  peaks  were  or  are 
volcanoes,  including  Mts.  Baker,  Rainier.  St.  Helens  and 
Adams,  in  Washington  Territory,  Jefferson,  Hood,  McLaugh- 
lin  and  the  Three  Sisters,  in  Oregon,  and  Shasta,  Lassen's 
Peak,  the  Downieville  Butte  and  Castle  Peak,  in  California. 
Mt.  Baker  is  now  an  active  volcano  ;  Mt.  Helens  emits  a  con- 
stant stream  of  steam-like  smoke,  and  Shasta  sends  hot  and 
sulphurous  vapors  from  her  summit. 

Beds  of  lava  which  have  been  thrown  out  by  volcanoes,  are 
not  rare  in  the  mining  districts,  and  they  occupy  an  important 
place  in  the  geology  of  the  gold  region.  In  several  places  they 
have  covered  up  the  beds  and  channels  of  ancient  streams, 
thus  covering  rich  deposits  of  gold  ;  and  subsequently  they  have 
been  left,  by  the  washing  away  of  the  adjacent  ground,  standing 
as  high,  narrow  ridges,  with  flat  tops  and  steep  sides.  The 
most  singular  and  remarkable  "  table  mountains,"  as  they  are 
called,  are — one  in  Tuolumne  county,  thirty-five  miles  long  ;  the 
other  in  Butte  county,  about  ten  miles  long. 

Hot  Springs.  $  62.  It  has  been  observed  that  where 
warm  and  hot  mineral  springs  are  found  over  an  extensive 
district  of  country,  there  are  usually  valuable  minerals  in  the 
soil.  Such  springs  are  rarely  found  in  fertile,  flat  or  gently 
undulating  countries,  where  the  rocks  next  the  surface  are 
stratified  limestone  or  old  red  sandstone  ;  but  in  rugged,  moun- 
tainous places,  where  the  rocks  are-  granite  or  volcanic  in  char- 
acter. There  is  probably  no  part  of  the  world  richer  in  hot 
and  mineral  springs  than  California  and  western  Utah.  The 
Coast  mountains,  from  latitude  forty  degrees  southward  to 
thirty-two  degrees,  are  full  of  warm  springs,  most  of  them  with 
a  good  portion  of  sulphur  in  their  waters.  On  the  western  slope 


THE   GEOLOGY   OF    GOLD.  *  67 

of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  hot  springs  are  rare,  but  on  the  eastern 
side  most  abundant ;  and,  indeed,  there  are  places  where,  in  the 
midst  of  springs  and  brooks,  it  is  difficult  to  find  water  free 
from  sulphur  and  iron. 


CHAPTER   V. 

THE  MINING  DISTRICTS. 


Orography  of  the  Coast.  \  63.  It  may  be  said, 
in  general  terms,  that  the  whole  Pacific  coast  of  North  Amer- 
ica is  rich  in  gold  and  silver,  from  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  to 
the  Russian  Possessions. 

In  considering  the  mining  districts  of  California  and  the 
adjacent  States  and  territories,  we  must  remember  the  general 
conformation  of  the  country.  The  back-bone  of  the  coast  is 
the  range  of  mountains  known  as  the  Sierra  Nevada  in  Cali- 
fornia, and  the  Cascade  mountains  in  Oregon,  Washington  and 
British  Columbia.  This  range  is  from  twenty  to  fifty  miles 
wide,  from  five  to  ten  thousand  feet  high,  about  a  hundred 
miles  from  the  coast  and  parallel  with  it.  It  is  metalliferous 
through  nearly  its  whole  length,  from  thirty-four  degrees  to 
fifty-five  degrees,  and  its  southern  termination  is  connected 
with  the  Coast  range  which  runs  down  through  the  peninsula 
of  Lower  California,  and  is  also  metalliferous. 

Metals  of  the  Sierra  Nevada.  §  64.  The  richest 
auriferous  region  on  the  coast  is  found  on  the  western  slope  of 
the  Sierra  Nevada,  between  latitudes  thirty-seven  and  forty 
degrees.  On  the  eastern  side  of  the  summit,  between  those 
latitudes,  a  few  rich  placers  have  been  found,  some  very  rich 
quartz  veins  within  one  small  district,  and  a  large  extent  of 
country  rich  in  silver.  South  of  thirty-seven  degrees,  there 
are  a  few  scattering  placers,  and  auriferous  quartz  veins  west 
of  the  summit ;  none  east  of  it.  From  forty  degrees  to  forty- 
three  degrees,  there  are  numerous  placers  and  auriferous  quartz 
lodes  west  of  the  summit ;  on  the  west  side,  from  forty- three 
degrees  northward,  and  on  the  east  side,  from  forty  degrees  to 


THE   MINING   DISTRICTS.  *      69 

forty-six  decrees,  there  are  no  paying  placers  or  veins  of  gold 
or  silver.  From  forty-six  degrees  to  fifty-eight  degrees  on  the 
eastern  side,  there  are  paying  gold  placers.  The  gold  found 
east  of  the  summit  contains  a  greater  proportion  of  silver 
than  that  found  west ;  this  remark  applies  equally  to  gold  dug 
in  latitude  fifty-two  degrees,  and  in  thirty-eight  degrees. 

General  List  of  Districts.  §  65.  The  Sacramento 
mines,  or  the  auriferous  region  of  the  Sacramento  basin,  about 
half  way  up  on  the  western  slope  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  is 
forty  miles  wide  and  two  hundred  miles  long,  lying  between  lat- 
itudes thirty-seven  and  forty  degrees,  with  a  direction  north- 
north-west  and  south-south-east  longitudinally. 

The  next  gold  bearing  district  is  in,  the  basin  of  the  Shasta 
and  Klamath  rivers,  between  forty  deg.  thirty  min.  and  forty- 
three  deg.  thirty  min.,  extending  about  two  hundred  miles 
along  the  coast  and  one  hundred  miles  inland.  Northward  of 
forty- three  deg.  thirty  min.  few  mines  are  found  west  of  the 
Cascades. 

The  third  auriferous  district  in  importance  is  that  of  British 
Columbia,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Cascade  mountains,  be- 
tween fifty  and  fifty-five  degrees,  and  about  fifty  miles  wide. 

The  basin  of  Kogue  river,  in  southern  Oregon,  contains  rich 
and  extensive  placers. 

The  next  district  in  importance  is  that  of  the  valley  of  the 
Upper  Columbia,  in  Washington  territory,  east  of  the  Cas- 
cades. 

There  are  gold  diggings  also  in  the  valleys  of  the  Walker, 
Carson,  Kern,  White,  San  Gabriel,  Colorado  and  Gila  rivers, 
at  Mono  Lake  and  in  Arizona. 

The  richest  argentiferous  district  is  that  of  Washoe,  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  in  latitude  thirty-nine  deg. 
twenty  min.  It  is  about  ten  miles  square. 

Ninety  miles  southward  and  fifteen  miles  northward  from  the 
eastern  point  of  Mono  Lake,  is  the  Esmeralda  district,  about 
five  miles  square.  This  district  is  supposed  to  be  within  the 
limits  of  Calaveras  county,  California. 

Two  hundred  miles  further  southward,  and  eastward  from 
Owen's  Lake,  is  the  Coso  district,  about  ten  miles  square. 

Arizona  contains  gold,  silver  and  copper  ;  Lower  California 
has  silver  and  copper. 

The  only  quicksilver  mines  on  the  coast,  are  found  in  the 


70  HAND-BOOK   OF    MINING. 

vicinity  of  New  Almaden,  Santa  Clara  county ;  at  New  Idria, 
in  Fresno  county ;  at  Mt.  St.  Helena,  in  Napa  county,  and  the 
Geyser  mountains,  in  Sonoma  county. 

Climates.  $  66.  The  climates  of  these  various  mining- 
districts  differ  greatly.  The  quicksilver  mines  lie  at  a  low  level 
— about  a  thousand  feet  above  the  sea ;  are  within  forty  miles  of 
the  coast,  and  have  a  mild,  equable  climate.  At  New  Alma- 
den,  ice  never  forms  more  than  two  inches,  and  then  thaws 
within  a  day  or  two  ;  snow  never  lies  on  the  ground  more  than 
a  day,  and  never  falls  more  than  two  or  three  inches  deep ;  the 
thermometer  is  never  below  the  freezing  point  twenty-four  con- 
secutive hours ;  there  are  three  hundred  clear  days  in  the  year, 
and  in  summer  the  heat  is  never  oppressive.  Sonoma  and 
Napa  counties  and  New  Idria  have  a  similar  climate.  About 
twenty  inches  of  rain  fall  between  November  and  May ;  none 
during  the  remainder  of  the  year.  The  nights  are  cold  all 
along  the  coast,  in  summer  as  well  as  winter. 

The  mining  district  on  the  western  slope  of  the  Sierra 
Nevada  has  hot  summers  and  cold  winters.  Snow  lies  on  the 
ground  for  weeks  at  a  time,  and  ice  forms  nearly  a  foot  thick. 
The  severity  of  the  winter  depends  upon  the  altitude.  At 
Forest  City,  in  Sierra  county,  about  six  thousand  feet  above 
the  sea,  the  snow  falls  sometimes  ten  feet  deep,  and  lies  on  the 
ground  from  December  till  March.  The  people  often  use  snow 
shoes  in  traveling.  The  summers  are  dry,  the  winters  wet,  and 
the  amount  of  rain  increases  with  the  altitude. 

About  the  mouth  of  the  Klamath  river  and  in  Rogue  river 
valley,  rain  is  not  rare  in  summer.  Near  the  ocean,  the  climate 
is  mild  and  equable  in  temperature ;  but  in  the  vicinity  of 
Yreka,  the  winters  are  very  cold. 

The  climate  of  British  Columbia  is  very  cold  in  winter. 
The  summers  are  hot  at  mid-day.  The  same  remark  may  be 
applied  to  the  valley  of  the  Upper.  Columbia.  Bain  is  rare  in 
summer. 

In  western  Utah,  the  winters  are  cold,  the  springs  windy 
and  gusty,  the  summer  days  warm.  Rain  is  rare  between  May 
and  November. 

In  Arizona,  the  heat  is  great  in  the  summer ;  the  winters  are 
warm  and  mild. 

Gold  is  found  in  most  of  the  counties  of  California,  includ- 
ing all  that  reach  the  eastern  border  of  the  State. 


THE    MINING    DISTRICTS.  v      1.1. 

Sacramento  District.  \  67.  The  principal  mining 
district,  which  may  be  called  the  "  Sacramento  district,"  be- 
cause it  is  in  the  Sacramento  basin,  lies  on  the  western  slope 
of  the  Sierra  Nevada  mountains,  between  latitudes  thirty- 
seven  degrees  and  forty  degrees  north,  and  between  one  and 
six  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  It  is  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  miles  long  by  thirty  wide,  to  speak  in  general 
terms,  and  its  longitudinal  direction  is  north-north-west  by 
south-south-east.  It  includes  the  greater  portions  of  the  coun- 
ties of  Mariposa,  Tuolumne,  Calaveras,  Amador,  El  Dorado, 
Placer,  Nevada,  Sierra,  Yuba,  Butte  and  Plumas;  a  very 
mountainous,  rugged  country — cut  up  into  hills  and  canons  by 
numerous  streams  running  westward  from  the  summit  of  the 
Sierra,  and  emptying  into  the  Sacramento  and  San  Joaquin 
rivers.  These  streams,  commencing "  at  the  north,  are  the 
Feather,  which  has  the  Yuba  and  Bear  rivers  for  tributaries  ; 
the  American  ;  the  Mokelumne,  which  has  the  Cosumnes  for  a 
tributary;  the  Calaveras,  the  Stanislaus,  the  Tuolumne,  the 
Merced,  the  Mariposa,  and  the  Chowchilla.  These  streams  are 
swift  mountain  torrents,  each  about  seventy-five  miles  long  on 
an  average,  running  through  deep  rocky  gorges  and  perpen- 
dicular canons.  A  level  valley,  half  a  mile  wide  and  five  miles 
long,  is  a  great  rarity  along  these  streams,  which,  though  large, 
have  not  been  able  to  win  much  level  land  from  the  mountains. 
The  country  is  so  rough,  that  in  '49  few  of  the  mining  camps 
were  accessible  with  wagons,  and  notwithstanding  the  extens- 
ive trade  of  the  mines,  and  the  expenditure  of  large  amounts 
on  the  roads,  pack  mules  are  still  extensively  used  as  the  means 
of  conveying  freight.  Part  of  this  mining  district  is  covered 
with  a  dense  forest  of  evergreen  trees  ;  part  of  it  has  scattered 
trees,  and  part  of  it  is  bare,  or  covered  with  thick  bushes.  The 
limits  of  this  district  are  not  clearly  defined  ;  gold  is*found  in 
small  quantities  on  all  sides  of  it,  and  many  places,  within  its 
general  limits,  have  no  gold. 

The  Sacramento  district  has  been  divided  by  common  usage, 
into  the  "  Northern  "  and  "  Southern ' '  mines.  The  "  Northern 
mines  "  lie  north  of  the  Mokelumne  river,  comprise  the  coun- 
ties of  Plumas,  Butte,  Yuba,  Sierra,  Nevada,  Placer,  El  Do- 
rado and  Amador,  and  get  their  supplies  through  Sacramento. 
The  "  Southern  mines "  lie  south  of  the  Mokelumne  river, 
comprise  the  counties  of  Calaveras,  Tuolumne,  Mariposa  and 
Fresno,  and  get  most  of  their  supplies  through  Stockton. 


72  HAND-BOOK    OF    MINING. 

Nearly  every  county  includes  all  kinds  of  diggings  ;  and 
every  little  camp  has  something  different  from  other  camps. 

Plumas  County.  §  68.  Plumas  county  has  some  rich 
mining  land  in  her  south-western  corner,  but  it  is  very  high 
above  the  sea.  Most  of  the  diggings  are  deep.  Quincy,  the 
county  seat,  is  one  hundred  and  forty-five  miles  from  Sacra- 
mento. 

Sierra  County,  §  69.  Sierra  is  one  of  the  smallest  but 
richest  mining  counties  in  the  State.  Little,  if  any  of  it,  is 
within  four  thousand  feet  of  the  sea  level.  Its  diggings  are 
chiefly  in  hills,  and  very  deep  ;  and  they  will  continue  to  yield 
largely  for  many  years.  The  gold  is  coarse.  The  country  is 
well  supplied  with  water.  A  remarkable  part  of  the  mining 
ground  of  this  county  is  called  the  "  Blue  Lead,"  of  which  Mr. 
Charles  S.  Capp.  says  : 

"  This  is  not  one  of  the  many  petty  leads,  an  inch  or  two  in 
breadth  and  thickness,  which,  after  being  traced  a  few  hundred 
feet,  end  as  suddenly  and  mysteriously  as  they  commence ;  but 
it  is,  evidently,  the  bed  of  some  ancient  river.  It  is  often  hun- 
dreds of  feet  in  width,  and  extends  for  miles  and  miles,  a  thous- 
and feet  below  the  summits  of  high  mountains,  and  entirely 
through  them.  Now  it  crops  out  where  the  deep  channels  of 
some  of  the  rivers  and  ravines  of  the  present  day  have  cut  it 
asunder  ;  and  then,  hidden  beneath  the  rocks  and  strata  above 
it,  it  only  emerges  again,  miles  and  miles  away.  Wherever  its 
continuity  has  been  destroyed,  the  river  or  gulch  which  has 
washed  a  portion  of  it  away  was  found  to  be  immensely  rich, 
for  some  distance  below,  and  the  materials  of  which  the  lead  is 
composed  are  found  with  the  gold  in  the  bed  of  the  stream. 
It  is  evidently  the  bed  of  some  ancient  stream,  because  it  is 
walled  in  by  steep  banks' of  hard  bed-rock,  precisely  like  the 
banks  of  rivers  and  ravines  in  which  water  now  runs,  and  be- 
cause it  is  composed  of  clay  which  is  evidently  a  sedimentary 
deposit,  and  of  pebbles  and  black  and  white  quartz,  which 
could  only  be  rounded  and  polished  as  they  are  by  the  long 
continued  action  of  swiftly  running  water.  The  bed-rock  in 
the  bottom  of  this  lead  is  worn  into  long,  smooth  channels,  and 
also  has  its  roughnesses  and  crevices  like  other  river  beds. 
The  lighter  and  poorer  qualities  of  gold  are  found  nearest  to 
its  edges,  while  the  heavier  and  finer  portions  have  found  their 


THE   MINING   DISTRICTS.  73 

way  to  the  deeper  places,  near  the  center.  Trees  and  pieces  of 
wood,  more  or  less  petrified  and  changed  in  their  nature,  which 
once  floated  in  its  waters,  are  also  everywhere  encountered 
throughout  this  stratum. 

"  The  clay  and  finer  gravel  in  which  these  pebbles  and 
boulders  are  found  to  be  tightly  packed,  is  of  a  light  blue  color, 
which  gives  the  name  to  the  lead.  Much  of  this  clay  is  remark- 
ably fine  and  free  from  coarser  particles,  and  is  smooth  and 
unctuous  to  the  touch.  It  is  said  to  be  strongly  impregnated 
with  arsenic,  as  was  shown  by  chemical  analysis,  and  contains 
large  quantities  of  iron  and  sulphur  in  solution,  for  pyrites  and 
sulphurets  of  iron  are  deposited  in  shining  metallic  crystals  in 
every  vacant  crevice.  Fine  gold  is  found  among  this  clay,  and 
the  heavier  particles  beneath  it,  upon  the  bed-rock.  This  stra- 
tum varies  in  thickness  from  eighteen  inches  to  eight  or  ten 
feet,  while  the  whole  lead  varies  in  width  from  a  hundred  and 
fifty  to  five  hundred  feet. 

"  The  same  lead  has  been  found  at  Sebastopol,  four  miles  above 
Monte  Cristo,  and  also  higher  up  among  the  mountains.  It 
appears  at  Monte  Cristo,  which  is  four  miles  above  the  high- 
lying  Downieville,  and  over  three  thousand  feet  above  it,  and 
at  Chapparal  Hill,  on  the  side  of  a  deep  ravine  ;  then  at  the 
City  of  Six,  which  is  also  on  very  high  land,  about  four  miles 
from  Downieville,  across  the  North  Yuba.  It  is  next  found 
at  Forest  City,  on  both  sides  of  a  creek,  and  is  there  traced 
directly  through  the  mountain  to  Alleghany  town  and  Smith's 
Flat,  on  the  opposite  side.  There  it  is  again  cut  in  twain  by 
a  deep  ravine.  It  crops  out  on  the  other  side  at  Chip's  Flat, 
where  it  has  been  followed  by  tunnels  passing  completely 
through  the  mountain  to  Centreville  and  Minnesota  on  the 
other  side.  He^e  it  is  obliterated  by  the  Middle  Fork  of  the 
Yuba,  but  is  believed  to  be  again  found  at  Snow  Point,  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  river ;  and  again  at  Zion  Hill,  several 
miles  beyond.  There  is  no  reason  for  doubting  that  after  thus  . 
reaching  over  twenty  miles,  it  still  extends  further.  Hundreds 
of  tunnels  have  been  run  in  search  of  it.  Where  the  line  it 
follows  was  adhered  to,  they  have  always  found  it,  and  have 
been  well  rewarded  for  their  labor.  '  Millions  of  dollars  have 
been  taken  from  this  lead,  and  its  richness,  even  in  portions 
longest  worked,  is  yet  undiniinished.  These  tunnels  have  coat 
from  $20,000  to  §100,000  each,  and  interests  in  the  claims 
they  enter  sell  readily  at  from  $1,000  to  $20,000,  in  proportion 
4 


74  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

to  the  amount  of  ground  within  them  remaining  untouched, 
and  the  facilities  which  exist  for  working  it.  Many  of  these 
claims  will  yet  afford  from  five  to  ten  or  more  years'  profitable 
labor  to  their  owners,  before  the  lead  itself  within  them  is 
exhausted.  As  in  some  of  them  quartz  veins  and  poorer  pay- 
ing gravel  have  been  found,  many  of  them  may  be  valuable  to 
work  from  the  top  down,  as  hydraulic  claims." 

The  theory  that  this  blue  lead  was  once  the  bed  of  an  an- 
cient stream,  is  generally  accepted  by  those  familiar  with  it. 
Another  evidence  to  support  the  theory  is,  that  in  many  places 
the  flattish  stones  in  the  lead  lie  at  a  peculiar  inclination,  and 
all  in  the  same  direction,  as  stones  do  in  a  stream  of  water. 
This  theory,  however,  does  not  find  universal  belief.  Mr.  B. 
P.  A  very  wrote  thus  of  it  for  the  San  Juan  Press,  in  1859  : 

"  Everybody  in  California  has  heard  or  read  of  the  famous 
1  blue  lead,'  which  all  miners,  who  delve  for  gold  far  up  in  the 
mountains,  hope  to  find,  and  think  themselves  lucky  when  they 
have  found  it,  and  which  they  pronounce  to  be  the  channel  of 
an  ancient  river.  This  lead  is  always  found  resting  on  or  near 
the  bed-rock,  beneath  diluvial  strata  of  different  colors,  such  as 
shades  of  red,  3rellow  and  gray,  and  is  itself  more  of  a  deep 
slate  color  than  blue.  It  is  generally  richer  in  auriferous  par- 
ticles than  the  gravel  lying  above  it,  and  forms  the  productive 
drift  diggings  for  which  the  vicinity  of  Forest  City  is  noted, 
as  well  as  those  of  many  other  localities.  The  theory  of  its 
origin  alluded  to  above,  is  predicated  upon  these  facts  and  as- 
sumptions :  that  it  has  been  traced,  in  a  continuous  line,  at  a 
certain  altitude,  through  several  counties,  from  ridge  to  ridge, 
at  a  right  angle  to  present  water  courses,  across  canons  thou- 
sands of  feet  deep  ;  that  the  stratification  of  the  lead  is  uniform, 
and  different  from  that  of  adjoining  deposits ;  that  tree  trunks, 
both  in  the  ligneous  and  petrified  state,  are  foiuid  lying  in  it, 
as  though  borne  there  by  freshets  ;  and  the  gold  found  in  it  is 
everywhere  of  the  same  character  as  to  appearance  and  quality. 
This  crude  theory  conforms  to  the  general  one,  which  is  popu- 
larly employed  to  account  for  the  extensive  alluvial  deposits 
constituting  our  placer  diggings.  .It  is  remarkable  that  the 
majority  of  our  miners,  who  are  commonly  men  of  intelligence 
and  practical  knowledge  in  their  pursuit,  should  have  discarded 
entirely,  if  they  ever  entertained,  when  speculating  upon  the 
origin  of  our  gold  fields,  the  more  rational  theory  of  marine 
influence,  for  one  of  purely  local  causes. 


HE    MINING    DISTRICTS.  75 

u  They  overlook  all  the  facts  which  go  to  prove  a  total  sub- 
mergence of  this  coast  at  some  remote  period,  and  settle  down 
upon  the  narrow  idea  that  the  immense  gravel  beds  which  con- 
tain so  large  a  portion  of  our  mineral  wealth,  and  which 
extend  at  least  four  hundred  miles  north  and  south,  having  an 
average  breadth  of  probably  not  less  than  sixty  miles,  were  de- 
posited by  rivers,  which  anciently  ran  here,  and  changed  their 
channels  from  time  to  time,  until  they  paved  the  whole  country 
with  cobble  stones.  These  deposits  have  been  cut  through  by 
modern  streams,  running  a  different  course,  and  hence  the 
present  canons  and  ridges.  Of  the  ancient  rivers,  the  one  that 
deposited  the  blue  lead  has  alone  left  distinctive  marks  of  its 
course.  Now,  unfortunately  for  the  plausibility  of  this  theory, 
the  blue  lead  is  found  all  the  way  from  the  summit  of  the  Sierra 
Nevada  to  the  foot  hills.  Instead  of  being  confined  to  a  certain 
altitude,  and  a  certain  line,  it  exists  in  every  altitude,  on  the 
main  ridges  as  well  as  on  spurs  of  them,  and  even  on  isolated 
peaks.  Its  color  is  owing  to  the  presence  of  sulphuret  of  iron 
in  solution,  without  which  the  gravel  would  not  be  any  different 
from  that  lying  above,  except  that  the  boulders  and  large 
stones  would  be  found  in  it  as  they  are  always  found  at  the 
bottom  of  every  gravel  deposit.  Wherever  sulphurous  acid  or 
sulphuret  of  iron  is  found,  there  the  so-called  blue  lead  will  be 
discovered,  just  as  certainly  as  red  earth  and  gravel  will  be 
found  where  the  oxide  of  iron  is  present  as  a  coloring  agent. 
It  is  found  at  a  great  elevation  in  Sierra  county,  and  at  a  low 
one  in  Nevada  and  Yuba.  It  has  been  struck  at  San  Juan, 
and  at  points  thirty  or  forty  miles  above  it,  leads  of  other 
colors  intervening." 

The  quartz  claim  of  the  Sierra  Buttes  Quartz  Mining  Com- 
pany in  Sierra  county,  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  in  tne  State. 
The  claim  derives  its  name  from  the  Sierra  Butte  or  Buttes, 
a  mountain  about  9,000  feet  high,  with  three  peaks,  twelve 
miles  north-eastward  from  Downieville.  On  the  south-western 
slope  of  this  mountain,  about  6,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea,  and  twelve  miles  from  the  county  seat,  are  the  claim  and 
mills  of  the  company.  The  company  is  composed  of  Messrs. 
Reis  Bros.,  who  have  a  half  interest,  Wm.  H.  Ladd,  of  Downie- 
ville, who  has  a  fourth,  and  E.  L.  Barnes,  of  Downieville,  and 
R.  E.  Brewster,  of  San  Francisco,  who  have  each  an  eighth. 

The  lead  was  discovered  in  1851,  but  little  work  was  done 
previous  to  1853.  The  claim  is  1,600  feet  long,  and  includes 


75  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

several  lodes,  only  two  of  which  have  been  worked.  Of  these, 
the  larger  one,  called  the  Cliff  ledge,  is  from  four  to  twenty-five 
feet  wide  ;  the  smaller  one,  called  the  Aerial  ledge,  is  from  two 
to  four  feet  wide.  Little  work  has  been  done  on  the  latter. 
Both  these  lodes  have  a  direction  nearly  north-west  and  south- 
east, and  both  dip  to  the  east,  at  an  angle  of  forty-five  degrees, 
though  at  some  distance  from  the  surface,  the  dip  seems  to  ap- 
proach a  little  nearer  to  the  horizontal  direction.  The  quartz 
is  bluish  white  in  color,  and  hard,  but  much  of  it  crumbles  into 
sand  on  exposure  to  the  air. 

The  paying  rock  is,  in  some  places,  not  more  than  two  feet 
thick  ;  in  others,  as  much  as  eighteen  ;  on  an  average,  six  feet. 
The  richest  rock  is  found  in  a  streak  near  the  foot-wall ;  and 
there  are  rich  spots  scattered  around,  irregularly,  in  other  parts 
of  the  lode.  The  claim  of  the  company  is  on  a  steep  mountain- 
side, and  the  rock  is  taken  out  through  tunnels.  The  lowest 
point  where  the  lode  has  been  struck,  is  425  feet  below  the  out- 
cropping of  the  Cliff  lode.  The  vein  is  about  the  same  in  size, 
and  the  rock  the  same  in  quality  and  in  richness  there,  as  at 
the  surface.  The  rich  streak  along  the  foot-wall  is  from  four 
to  thirty  inches  thick,  and  pays  at  the  rate  of  from  $50  to 
$5,000  per  ton.  This  rich  quartz,  however,  is  only  obtained 
in  small  quantities  at  a  time,  and  it  is  always  crushed  with  the 
other  poorer  rock.  The  average  yield  is  $18  to  the  ton.  The 
gold  is  from  865  to  870  fine,  and  is,  therefore,  worth  from  $17 
88  to  $17  98  per  ounce.  The  claim  has  a  high  reputation  for 
the  great  amount  of  paying  rock. 

The  gold  is  extracted  in  two  mills,  owned  by  the  company. 
These  mills  are  in  a  ravine  about  1,000  feet  below  the  out-crop 
of  the  Cliff  lode.  One  has  twelve  revolving  stamps,  the  other 
eight  square  stamps,  which  last  are  soon  to  be  taken  out  and 
replaced  by  revolving  stamps.  These  mills  run  day  and  night, 
and  crush  from  twenty-eight  to  thirty  tons  in  twenty-four 
hours.  The  quartz  is  carried  down  from  the  tunnels  to  the 
mills  on  tramways,  in  cars.  A  loaded  car  going  down,  pulls  an 
empty  one  up.  The  quartz  is  all  loosened  by  blasting.  Forty 
men  are  employed  by  the  company  •  twenty-five  to  quarry  the 
rock,  five  in  the  mill,  to  look  after  the  stamping  and  amalga- 
mating, a  carpenter,  blacksmith,  and  eight  others  to  get  out 
timber,  transport  quartz,  and  so  forth. 

The  amalgamation  commences  in  the  battery,  where  about 
two-thirds  of  the  gold  are  caught.  From  the  battery  the 


THE    MINING    DISTRICTS.  77 

gold  is  carried  over  an  amalgamating  copper  plate,  then  over 
blankets,  then  through  a  little  sluice  with  transverse  riffle-bars, 
and  then  through  a  sluice  paved  with  cobble  stones.  The 
mills  run  continuously  night  and  day,  week  days  and  Sundays, 
stopping  only  to  clean  up.  A  run  occupies  from  thirty  to 
forty  days.  Four  pounds  and  a  half  avoirdupois  of  quicksilver 
are  put  into  the  battery  daily.  All  the  amalgam  is  retorted, 
in  masses  worth  about  $6,000  each.  The  average  cost  of 
quarrying,  crushing  and  amalgamating  a  ton  of  auriferous 
quartz,  is  six  dollars ;  and  as  the  yield  is  eighteen  dollars,  there 
is  a  profit  of  twelve  dollars  per  ton.  At  twenty-eight  tons  per 
day,  about  10,000  tons  are  crushed  in  a  year,  giving  $120,000 
profit,  and  a  gross  yield  of  $180,000.  One  of  the  mills  only 

fot  into  proper  operation  in  April,  1860,  so  they  have  not  yet 
ad  a  full  year  of  experience  with  both  of  them.  The  dividends 
of  1860  amounted  to  $83,000,  exclusive  of  $9,000  spent  on  the 
new  mill. 

The  wages  of  the  men  hired  are  from  fifty  to  seventy-five 
dollars  per  month — average,  sixty  dollars  and  boarding.  Until 
of  late,  the  tailings  were  allowed  to  run  off,  but  now  they  are 
saved,  and  the  company  has  made  a  contract  to  have  them 
worked  with  three  arastras,  on  shares.  There  is  not  much 
pyrites  in  the  quartz. 

The  mills  are  driven  by  water,  supplied  by  two  flumes,  one 
1,000  feet  long,  the  other  5,100.  All  the  buildings  are  erected 
on  a  hill-side,  which  rises  at  an  angle  of  about  thirty-five  de- 
grees, so  that  all  the  provisions  have  to  be  brought  on  mules, 
and  such  firewood  as  cannot  be  floated  down  the  flumes,  must 
be  obtained  by  the  same  conveyance.  Heavy  timbers  and 
castings  for  the  mills  are  let  down  the  mountain-side  by  a 
block  and  tackle.  • 

A  correspondent  of  the  Sacramento  Union  wrote  thus  about 
Rowland  Flat,  in  this  county,  in  December,  1860  : 

"  Rowland  Flat  has  eight  companies  in  successful  operation. 
Three  of  them  have  steam  engines  for  raising  dirt.  The  Union 
Company  is,  I  presume,  one  of  the  most  extensive  mining  com- 
panies in  Northern  Sierra.  They  have  a  large  engine,  by 
which  they  draw  their  dirt  up  an  incline  two  hundred  and 
forty  feet  long,  and  at  the  same  time  pump  the  water  out  of 
their  diggings.  Their  main  tunnel  runs  back  under  the  far- 
famed  Table  Mountain  near  two  thousand  feet,  where  they 
get  their  rich  pay.  As  is  generally  the  case,  those  who  open 
heavy  claims,  scarcely  ever  reap  the  benefits. 


78  HAND-BOOK   OP   MINING. 

"  The  first  company  was  known  as  the  Bright  Star  Com- 
pany, expended  forty  or  fifty  thousand  dollars,  and  then  failed, 
and  the  present  company  took  charge,  and  are  doing  remark- 
ably well.  Claims  are  valued  very  high  in  this  company. 
The  Mountaineer  Company  has  also  an  engine,  by  which  they 
hoist  dirt  through  a  shaft  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  feet 
deep.  They  just  got  under  way  last  fall,  and  their  claims  have 
been  paying  large — an  ounce  to  the  driflber.  The  Minnesota 
Company,  one  of  the  oldest  on  the  flat,  has  an  engine,  and,  as 
it  has  always  done,  pays  well.  A  good  '  pile  '  for  more  than 
one  has  been  taken  out  of  those  claims,  and  still  there  are 
more  fortunes  in  there  yet.  The  Down-East  is  another  old 
company,  and  pays  regularly  from  an  ounce  to  twenty  dollars 
a  day  to  the  drifter.  The  Shirley  Company  is  another  of  those 
good  paying  claims — never  fails  to  reward  the  laborer.  The 
Golden  Age  is  an  old  claim,  and  is  paying  splendidly.  The 
St.  Louis  Company  was  once  abandoned,  but  changed  hands, 
and  is  now  paying  handsomely.  The  Golden  Era  Company 
had  just  commenced  hoisting  dirt  the  day  I  visited  them,  by  a 
process  they  call  a  *  water-balance.'  They  hoist  a  car-load  at 
a  time.  There  is  a  large  chain  which  runs  over  a  wheel,  and 
at  each  end  of  this  chain  is  attached  a  water  tank,  and,  when 
filled,  will  just  balance  a  loaded  car,  which  sits  immediately 
over  the  empty  water  tank.  When  they  wish  to  hoist  a  car- 
load of  dirt,  they  fill  the  tank  with  water,  which  is  on  top,  and 
it  starts  down  the  shaft,  leaving  with  it  the  empty  car,  and  at 
the  same  time  bringing  up  the  empty  tank  and  car-load  of 
dirt.  When  this  tank,  full  of  water,  strikes  the  bottom,  the 
water  flows  out  preparatory  to  receiving  the  loaded  car.  They 
have  a  large  tank  in  '  whim  '  which  supplies  these  little  tanks. 
It  takes  two  inches  of  water  per  day,  which  costs  the  com- 
pany sixty  cents  per  day  to  run  the  machine,  is  all  the  expense 
they  are  at,  and  they  can  hoist  as  much  dirt  as  any  of  the  en- 
gines. The  beauty  of  this  machine  is  the  cheapness  and  sim- 
plicity of  it.  It  is  singular  to  me  there  are  not  more  of  them 
in  operation  in  California,  as  they  would  do  away  with  expen- 
sive engines." 

Downieville,  the  county  seat  of  Sierra  county,  is  one  hundred 
and  ten  miles  from  Sacramento. 

Butte  County.  §  70.  The  diggings  in  Butte  county 
are  near  the  level  of  the  Sacramento  Valley.  Oroville,  the 


THE   MINING   DISTRICTS.  *  79 

county  seat,  on  the  bank  of  Feather  river,  is  seventy-five  miles 
from  Sacramento,  in  a  due  northward  direction.  Most  of  the 
mining  in  this  county,  until  within  a  couple  of  years  past,  was 
done  in  the  bars  and  beds  of  Feather  river  and  its  tributaries  ; 
but  since  1858,  these  have  been  pretty  well  exhausted,  and  now 
recourse  has  been  had  to  hills  and  flats.  Northward  from 
Oroville  is  Table  Mountain,  a  hill  of  basalt,  ten  miles  long, 
overlying  a  bed  of  rich  auriferous  clay  and  gravel.  The  bed 
of  Feather  river  was  once  extremely  rich,  and  it  paid  for  some 
of  the  grandest  mining  enterprises  ever  undertaken  in  the  State. 
The  chief  of  these  were  the  works  of  the  Cape  Claim  and  the 
Union  Cape  Claim  companies,  in  1857  and  1858.  These  com- 
panies took  up  the  waters  of  Feather  river,  in  a  flume  several 
miles  long,  and  cleaned  out  its  bed.  The  Cape  Claim  flume 
was  three-quarters  of  a  mile  long  and  twenty  feet  wide.  Two 
hundred  and  fifty  men  were  employed.  On  the  fifth  of  No- 
vember, 1857,  the  mining  operations  of  the  company  having 
been  closed  for  that  year,  the  treasurer  reported  that  the  ex- 
penditures of  the  season,  (the  claim  being  in  the  river  bed, 
could  be  worked  only  during  the  summer)  had  been  $176,985, 
and  the  receipts  $251,426,  showing  a  profit  of  $74,441.  The 
next  summer  the  company  continued  its  enterprise  ;  expended 
$160,000,  received  $115,000,  and  so  lost  $45,000.  The  dis- 
tance from  Sacramento  to  Oroville,  the  county  seat  of  Butte 
county,  is  seventy-five  miles,  by  the  stage  road. 

Nevada  County.  J  71.  Nevada  county  is  the  first 
mining  county  in  the  State.  It  is  the  largest  in  population, 
probably  the  richest  in  gold,  and  it  has  done  more  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  mining  than  any  other  district.  The  torn,  the 
sluice  and  the  under-current  sluice  were  invented  there,  and  the 
ditch  and  hydraulic  process  were  there  first  applied  to  mining 
purposes  ;  and  there,  also,  quartz  mining  was  first  undertaken 
on  an  extensive  scale,  and  carried  into  successful  operation. 
The  chief  mining  towns  of  the  county  are  Nevada,  Grass 
Valley,  North  San  Juan  and  French  Corral.  Grass  Valley  is 
noted  for  its  quartz  mines  ;  the  two  last  named  places,  for  their 
extensive  hydraulic  diggings.  Sweetland,  a  small  town,  is 
famous  for  its  tail  sluices.  The  Allison  mine  is,  next  to  the 
Fremont  mines  in  Mariposa,  the  richest  quartz  mine  in  the 
State.  It  is  supposed  to  yield  about  $40,000  per  month.  It 
was  discovered  in  1856,  by  some  men  engaged  in  placer 


80  HAND-BOOK   OF    MINING. 

mining.  They  found  that  the  dirt  on  one  side  of  the  creek 
bank,  where  they  were  sluicing,  was  very  rich,  and  they  fol- 
lowed it  up  till  they  came  to  the  quartz  vein  from  which  the 
gold  had  come ;  and  on  testing  the  quartz,  they  found  it  ex- 
ceedingly rich.  It  is  said  that  the  vein  has  yielded  $1,500,000, 
and  that  most  of  the  rock  is  worth  $300  per  ton,  on  an  average. 
The  main  shaft  in  the  vein  is  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  deep. 

"  Nearly  all  the  mining  now  carried  on  around  the  town  of 
Nevada,"  says  Mr.  Capp,  "  is  either  in  -hydraulic  claims,  sup- 
plied with  water  from  the  flumes  and  ditches,  or  else  consists 
in  washing,  in  the  bed  of  the  creek,  the  tailings  that  annually 
enrich  it.  In  some  instances,  below  hydraulic  claims,  long 
sluices  are  arranged  so  as  to  catch  all  the  tailings  and  water 
as  they  are  discharged,  and  give  the  fine  gold  that  has  escaped 
another  chance  to  settle.  This  arrangement  is  also  an  ad- 
vantage to  the  parties  above,  who  thus  do  not  need  to  make 
their  sluices  so  long  as  would  otherwise  be  necessary,  and  are 
at  little  or  no  expense  in  keeping  them  free  of  stones  and  tail- 
ings, the  force  of  the  current  being  preserved,  and  the  other 
parties  attending  to  this  business.  I  heard  of  one  instance 
where  a  long  sluice,  erected  for  this  purpose,  and  receiving  no 
other  attention  whatever,  is  cleaned  up  by  one  man,  once  or 
twice  a  month,  and  yields  usually  a  dividend  of  about  seventy- 
five  dollars.  In  other  cases,  two  or  three  men,  from  such  a 
sluice,  by  working  constantly  to  keep  it  clear,  make  fair  wages. 

"  Most  of  the  hills  about  Nevada  were  worked  in  the  early 
times  of  '50  and  '51,  by  shafts  or  wells,  from  fifteen  to  sixty 
feet  in  depth,  from  which  drifts  branched  off  in  all  directions, 
following  up  the  many  little  leads  and  extracting  the  richest  of 
the  pay-dirt.  Now,  such  claims  are  sufficiently  rich  to  pay 
well  when  worked  in  the  hydraulic  fashion,  which  is  done 
wherever  water  is  to  be  had." 

The  Eureka  Lake  Ditch,  owned  by  a  company  of  the  same 
name,  is  the  most  extensive  enterprise  of  the  kind  in  the  State. 
The  main  ditch  is  seventy-five  miles  long,  and  it  has  one  hundred 
and  ninety  miles  of  branches,  making  two  hundred  and  sixty- 
five  miles,  which  have  cost  $900,000.  The  daily  sale  of  water 
is  six  thousand  inches,  at  sixteen  cents  per  inch,  which  makes 
a  weekly  revenue  of  six  thousand  dollars.  The  water  is  ob- 
tained chiefly  from  about  two  dozen  little  lakes,  very  high  up 
in  the  Sierra  Nevada,  and  large  artificial  reservoirs  have  been 
built  to  hold,  until  late  in  the  fall,  the  water  collected  in  the 
winter  and  spring. 


THE   MINING    DISTRICTS.  81 

It  is  said  that  $8,000,000  has  been  taken  from  a  hill  a  mile 
long  and  half  a  mile  wide,  at  Coyoteville,  near  Nevada.  One 
of  the  most  important  districts  in  the  State,  for  hydraulic 
mining,  is  the  French  Corral  ridge,  a  hill  about  thirty  miles 
long,  a  mile  wide  and  two  hundred  feet  high,  in  the  north- 
western part  of  Nevada  county.  This  ridge  runs  from  the 
mining  camp  of  French  Corral  to  North  San  Juan.  The 
town  of  Nevada,  the  county  seat,  is  sixty-nine  miles  from  Sac- 
ramento. 

Yuba  County.  §  72.  Yuba  county  contains  rich  mining 
ground  in  its  north-eastern  portion,  though  its  south-western 
part  is  in  the  flat  land  of  the  Sacramento  Valley.  The  most 
important  mining  towns  of  the  county  are  Camptonville  and 
Timbuctoo.  Marysville,  the  county  seat,  is  forty-four  miles 
from  Sacramento,  by  the  stage  road. 

Mr.  B.  P.  Avery,  of  the  San  Juan  Press,  wrote  thus  about 
Timbuctoo  in  December,  1859  : 

"  The  diggings  of  Timbuctoo  mostly  consist  of  a  gently- 
rounded  gravel  hill,  about  one  mile  long  and  perhaps  not  over 
fifteen  hundred  feet  wide,  with  an  altitude  above  its  base  of 
about  three  hundred  feet.  This  hill  lies  in  a  north-east  by  a 
south-west  direction,  between  a  large  ravine,  where  the  town  is, 
on  one  side,  and  the  Yuba  river  on  the  other.  It  is  partly 
bisected  by  a  small  gulch.  The  gravel,  which  is  very  coarse 
and  easily  washed,  but  for  intermediate  strata  of  '  pipe  clay  ' 
and  indurated  sand,  is  not  less  than  two  hundred  feet  deep,  has 
an  inclination  towards  the  river,  and  rests  upon  trap  rock, 
which  is  highest  next  the  stream.  The  first  deposition  upon 
the  rock  is  a  stratum  of  cemented  gravel,  deriving  its  color 
and  hardness  from  iron  sulphurets,  and  very  rich  in  gdld  worth 
eighteen  dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  ounce.  Overlaying  this  is 
a  thick  stratum  of  indurated  clay  or  sand — for  it  varies  in 
character — containing  some  gold,  but  indissoluble  except  after 
being  cut  up  and  long  exposed  to  air  and  water. 

"  The  blue  gravel  beneath  has  to  be  drifted  out,  and  is 
washed  several  times  in  succession,  through  sluices,  the  tailings 
being  saved  by  means  of  dams  and  allowed  to  '  slack.'  Above 
the  clay  stratum  the  gravel  is  yellow  and  gray,  very  coarse, 
crumbling  down  readily  beneath  the  action  of  one  hundred 
inches  of  water,  forced  against  it  from  hose  and  pipe.  This 
top-gravel,  as  it  is  called,  is  from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred 


82  HAND-BOOK   OP   MINING. 

and  forty  feet  thick,  and  is  washed  off  entirely  by  the  hydraulic 
process.  The  auriferous  particles  are  not  distributed  through 
it  uniformly,  but  are  found  most  plentiful  in  '  streaks/  or  thin 
strata  following  the  plane  of  the  bank.  Some  of  these  strata, 
lying  fifty  and  one  hundred  feet  above  the  bed-rock,  have  been 
drifted,  and  paid  from  five  to  ten  dollars  a  day  per  man.  The 
gold  in  the  top-gravel  is  remarkably  fine  in  quality,  command- 
ing from  nineteen  dollars  and  twenty  cents  to  nineteen  dollars 
and  fifty  cents  per  ounce  from  buvers,  and  assaying  as  high 
as  987. 

"  The  diggings  were  discovered  about  eight  years  ago,  by 
parties  following  up  ravines  from  the  river.  One  of  these 
ravines  contained  a  great  deal  of  earth  that  yielded  one  dollar 
to  the  bucket.  The  blue  gravel  in  the  hill  was  much  better. 
As  an  instance  of  this,  we  are  told  that  ten  dollars  had  been 
obtained  from  a  single  prospect ;  and  three  claims,  worked  by 
Antoine,  Burgoyne  and  Boyd,  yielded,  in  something  over  two 
years,  about  §100,000  ;  several  parties  buying  in  successively 
at  round  prices,  and  going  home  with  $5,000  or  $6,000  not 
long  afterwards.  But  drifting  out  bottom  dirt  was  found  to 
be  less  profitable,  on  the  whole,  than  sluicing  off  the  top. 

"  The  hydraulic  process,  in  its  crudest  form,  with  small 
sluices  and  small  streams  of  water,  was  first  employed  between 
four  and  five  years  ago.  It  is  now  the  universal  mode  of  work, 
and  is  conducted  with  elaborate  system  ;  galvanized  iron  pipes 
leading  the  water  into  the  claims,  where  it  is  distributed 
through  rubber  and  canvas  hose  ;  substantial  sluices  carrying 
off  the  washings,  and  more  extensive  ones  receiving  the  united 
*  tailings  '  of  several  sets  of  claims.  As  the  bed-rock  lies  so 
low,  there  is  no  necessity  for  tunnels,  except  in  two  or  three 
instances.  The  only  difficulty  the  miners  labor  under  is  want 
of  sufficient  fall  or  grade  for  their  sluices.  The  distance  from 
the  diggings  to  the  river  is  nearly  a  mile,  and  the  utmost 
grade  that  can  be  had  for  this  distance,  will  not  exceed  eight 
inches  to  every  twelve  feet  length  of  sluice.  The  big  ravine 
through  which  the  tailings  run,  is  filled  with  them  to  a  depth 
of  sixty  feet.  Along  this  ravine  are  several  large,  tall  flumes. 

"  Water  was  first  brought  into  the  diggings  of  Timbuctoo 
and  vicinity,  by  ditches  from  Deer  Creek,  twelve  miles  long. 
Three  of  these,  one  constructed  by  Mr.  Bovyer,  noted  for  his 
enterprise  and  skill  in  such  works,  are  now  consolidated  and 
owned  by  the  Tri-Union  Company.  The  water  which  they 


THE   MINING    DISTRICTS.  83 

supply,  amounting,  during  the  wet  season,  to  4,000  or  5,000 
inches,  is  conveyed  across  the  gap  lying  between  Smartsville 
and  Sucker  Flat,  through  two  flumes  2,400  feet  long ;  the 
largest  one,  which  appears  to.  be  sixty  or  eighty  feet  high  over 
the  lowest  part  of  the  gap,  being  an  elegant  and  substantial 
structure.  The  Excelsior  company  have  another  ditch,  which 
is  twenty-eight  miles  long,  draws  its  water  from  the  South 
Yuba,  has  a  capacity  of  about  4,000  inches,  miners'  measure, 
and  cost  in  the  neighborhood  of  $250,000.  It  will  deliver 
3,000  inches,  as  water  is  measured  at  Timbuctoo,  that  is — 
under  a  pressure  of  ten  inches — equal  to  perhaps  4,000  inches 
as  measured  at  North  San  Juan,  under  six  inches  pressure. 
The  Excelsior  Company  is  now  building,  at  Empire  Kanch, 
two  miles  from  the  diggings,  a  reservoir  which  will  have  a 
depth  at  the  dam  of  not  less  than  fifty  feet,  and  a  superficial 
area  of  at  least  seventy-five  acres.  The  dam  is  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  wide  at  the  base,  and  pierced  by  a  very 
substantial  arched  conduit  of  stone  and  wood  work.  The 
water  will  be  admitted  through  this,  when  wanted,  by  means 
of  a  heavy  iron  gate,  raised  by  a  screw — a  contrivance  of 
great  power  and  steadiness.  The  ditches  enumerated  are  now 
supplying  the  diggings  with  about  8,000  inches  of  water,  at 
twenty-five  cents  an  inch,  measured  liberally,  as  above  stated. 
Of  this  quantity,  the  largest  portion  is  used  at  Timbuctoo, 
where  forty  companies  and  nearly  three  hundred  men  are  at 
work,  though  not  more  than  half  that  number  of  companies  are 
washing.  Each  company  uses  from  400  to  600  inches  of  water  ; 
and  the  day  we  were  at  Timbuctoo,  the  total  water  sales  on 
the  hill  reached  6,000  inches,  at  a  cost  of  $1,500.  Of  course, 
this  enormous  supply  dwindles  to  a  very  small  one  as  the  dry 
season  approaches,  and  many  companies  have  to  lie  fey  or  go 
to  drifting.  Winter  is  the  true  harvest  time  of  both  ditch  men 
and  miners.  During  the  past  winter,  we  are  told,  the  weekly 
receipts  of  Bovyer's  ditch  averaged  $3,000. 

"  Although  the  miners  use  such  large  heads  of  water,  they 
do  not  direct  it  all  against  the  bank.  Only  one  hundred  inches 
flow  through  the  pipe,  the  remainder  being  allowed  to  fall  over 
the  edge  of  the  claims ;  much  less  being  needed  to  get  the 
earth  down,  than  to  run  it  of!,  owing  to  the  looseness  of  the 
upper  gravel,  and  great  size  of  the  stones.  In  some  claims, 
however,  the  earth  is  more  compact,  and  to  facilitate  washing, 
the  bottom  is  drifted  out,  leaving  pillars  standing,  which  are 
piped  away,  and  then  down  comes  the  mass  above." 


84  HAND-BOOK   OF    MINING. 

Placer  County.  J  73.  The  principal  mining  towns  of 
Placer  county  are  Auburn,  (the  county  seat)  Iowa  Hill,  Yan- 
kee Jim's,  Todd's  Yalley,  Wisconsin  Hill,  Michigan  Bluff  and 
Dutch  Fiat. 

"The  stratification  of  the  rocks  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Sarahsville,"  says  Mr.  Capp,  from  whom  I  shall  have  occasion 
to  quote  frequently,  "  is  peculiar,  there  being  two  distinct  layers 
of  pay-dirt.  The  cement  of  which  the  top  of  the  ridge  is  com- 
posed, is  sometimes  three  hundred  feet  in  thickness,  but  is  much 
thinner  where  the  bed-rock  rises.  Directly  under  this  cement 
is  a  stratum  of  pay-dirt,  called  the  upper  lead.  It  is  a  reddish 
or  grayish  gravel,  and  from  two  to  six  feet  in  thickness.  Be- 
low this  is  a  stratum  of  blue  gravel,  of  variable  thickness.  It 
is  thinnest  where  the  bed-rock  is  highest.  In  the  deepest 
places  it  is  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  in  thickness.  Under 
this  third  stratum  is  the  lower  lead  of  pay-dirt,  which  lies 
immediately  upon  the  bed-rock,  and  is  from  six  to  eighteen 
inches  in  thickness.  The  upper  layer  of  cement  is  whitish  and 
bluish,  and  where  exposed  to  the  air  and  moisture  on  the  tops 
and  sides  of  the  hills,  it  is  decomposed,  and  forms  the  red 
gravel  which  is  a  distinguishing  feature  of  nearly  all  gold  min- 
ing districts. 

"  The  first  stratum  of  pay-dirt,  a  reddish  gravel,  contains 
coarse  boulders  at  the  bottom,  but  is  composed  of  much  finer 
particles  towards  the  top,  and  has  evidently  settled,  as  a  sedi- 
mentary deposit,  from  running  water.  The  stratum  of  gravel 
below  this  contains  more  or  less  gold,  being  "  spotted  "  as  the 
miners  call  it,  portions  having  yielded  forty  cents  to  the  pan, 
while  in  others  the  color  of  gold  is  barely  perceptible.  At 
some  future  time  this  stratum  may  pay  to  wash  in  the  hydraulic 
fashion.  The  lower  stratum  of  pay-dirt  is  a  fine  sediment,  com- 
posed of  quartz  and  the  bed-rock  of  the  neighborhood,  which 
very  much  resembles  a  greenish  soap-stone,  ground  up  together 
and  containing  pebbles  and  boulders  of  quartz.  The  gold  in 
the  top-lead  is  in  small,  bright  scales  ;  that  in  the  lower  lead  is 
rounder  and  heavier,  and  the  surface  of  some  of  it  is  coated 
and  discolored.  To  work  these  two  leads,  it  is  necessary  to  run 
separate  tunnels,  at  from  fifty  to  a  hundred  feet  apart,  one 
above  the  other.  By  tracing  the  slope  of  the  bed-rock  on 
which  the  lower  lead  of  pay-dirt  is  distributed,  it  has  been 
found  that  the  tunnels  near  Snowburg  (which  is  merely  sepa- 
rated by  a  point  of  rocks  from  Sarahsville,  and  lies  to  the  east- 


THE    MINING    DISTRICTS.  85 

ward  of  it)  are  running  into  the  ridge  along  the  course  of  an 
old  river  or  ravine.  The  distance  across  the  bottom  of  the 
upper  stratum  of  cement,  is  about  two  thousand  feet,  and  from 
its  edges  the  bed-rock  dips  rapidly  both  ways  towards  the  cen- 
ter, thus  forming  the  banks  of  the  old  channel.  The  bottom 
lead  of  pay-dirt  follows  down  the  steep  sides  of  the  bed-rock, 
and  is  supposed  to  be  thickest  and  richest  in  the  center  claim, 
where,  however,  the  lower  tunnel  has  not  yet  been  completed. 
This  channel  appears  to  have  crossed  the  dividing  ridge  be- 
tween Shirt  Tail  canon  and  the  middle  fork  of  the  American 
river.  A  section  of  it  is  partially  exposed,  and  the  pay-dirt 
has  cropped  out  at  this  point,  near  the  mouth  of  Yolcano 
canon. 

"  Forest  Hill  is  a  small  mining  town,  about  three  miles  from 
Yankee  Jim's.  It  is  built  on  the  steep  side  of  the  ridge  along 
the  west  side  of  the  Middle  Fork  of  the  American  river.  The 
mining  operations  are  carried  on  almost  entirely  by  tunnels, 
entering  the  mountain  from  the  eastern  side. 

"  The  pay-dirt  in  these  claims  is  found  on  two  level  surfaces 
of  the  bed-rock.  The  outer  rim,  through  which  the  tunnels 
run,  is  from  five  hundred  to  eight  hundred  feet  in  thickness. 
At  this  depth  its  inner  side  is  reached,  which  slopes  inwards 
and  downwards  towards  the  center  of  the  mountain,  until  it 
reaches  the  first  level,  which  is  usually  in  the  neighborhood  of 
four  hundred  feet  in  width.  The  excavations  are  carried 
directly  across  this  flat,  and  at  the  furthest  side  the  bed-rock 
again  suddenly  '  pitches/  or  slants  downwards,  until  another 
flat  is  reached,  which  is  about  one  hundred  feet  in  width.  This 
second  flat  appears  like  the  ordinary  bed  or  channel  of  a  river, 
and  is  bounded  on  the  other  side  by  another  sudden  rise  of  the 
bed-rock,  which  apparently  was  the  bank  or  wall  that  confined 
the  stream.  Thus  a  section  of  the  mountain  at  this  point,  it 
would  seem,  would  exhibit  a  bed  of  some  old  river,  almost  one 
hundred  feet  in  width,  worn  deeply  into  the  bed-rock.  At  the 
side  where  the  tunnels  now  enter,  and  a  few  feet  above  it,  a 
large  flat  or  bottom  four  hundred  feet  in  width  would  appear 
to  have  been  formed,  which  was  also  bounded  by  a  steep  bank, 
that  at  present  is  the  outer  or  rim-rock. 

"  The  first  deposit  of  pay-dirt  that  is  encountered,  is  that  on 
what  is  supposed  to  be  the  flat  along  the  true  bed  of  the  stream. 
It  is  what  the  miners  call  *  a  white  sediment,'  filled  with  quartz 
pebbles  and  boulders,  but  containing  little  gravel.  That  found 


86  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

beyond  the  pitch  in  the  bed-rock  on  the  second  level,  which  is 
supposed  to  be  the  old  bed  of  a  stream,  is  called  the  main  or 
back  lead,  and  is  a  finer  sedimentary  deposit,  which  the  miners 
call  *  pipe  clay.'  These  deposits,  I  was  informed,  are  about 
three  hundred  feet  below  the  top  of  the  mountain.  This  for- 
mation is  said  to  extend  for  about  two  miles  and  a  half  under 
thp  mountain,  and  nearly  following  the  course  of  the  ridge  to 
where  an  outlet  appears  to  have  existed  at  Todd's  Valley. 
There,  the  pay-dirt  being  more  scattered,  is  supposed  to  have 
formed  the  surface  diggings  in  that  vicinity.  Not  a  tunnel 
run  into  the  mountain  on  this  line  has  failed  to  reach  these 
leads,  which  therefore  are  evidently  continuous." 

Two-thirds  of  the  present  gold  yield  of  Placer  county  are 
obtained  from  hydraulic  claims. 

El  Dorado  County,  g  74.  El  Dorado  county,  for  a 
long  time  called  the  "  Empire  County,"  because  it  cast  the 
largest  vote  in  the  State,  is  now  next  to  Nevada  in  population 
among  the  mining  counties.  The  principal  towns  are  Placer- 
ville,  Coloma,  Georgetown,  El  Dorado,  Spanish  Flat  and  Dia- 
mond Springs.  Placerville,  the  county  seat,  is  fifty-one  miles 
from  Sacramento  in  an  eastward  direction.  El  Dorado  is  the 
oldest  placer  mining  county  in  the  State,  Marshall's  discovery 
having  been  made  within  its  limits. 

"  The  surface  and  creek  diggings  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
Placerville,"  said  Mr.  Capp,  writing  in  1857,  "  have  been  pretty 
thoroughly  worked.  The  majority  of  the  miners  who  derive 
their  supplies  at  this  point,  are  scattered  for  a  number  of 
miles  around ;  and  it  is  this  trade  and  the  business  that  has  to 
be  done  at  the  county  seat,  perhaps  more  than  the  mines  close 
by,  which  principally  supports  the  town.  The  wages  made  by 
miners  near  Placerville,  are  as  low  as  in  any  other  portion  of 
the  mining  region.  Most  of  the  mining  now  going  on  near 
the  town  is  washing  over  old  tailings,  and  tunneling  into  the 
hills.  Though  many  such  operations  have  been  very  profita- 
ble, I  was  shown  large  numbers  of  places  where  little  or  no 
return  had  been  received  for  the  labor  expended.  These  opera- 
tions have  been  numerous  in  the  Coon  Hollow  ridge,  along  the 
Cedar  ravine,  at  Smith's  Flat,  and  at  Negro  Hill,  two  or  three 
miles  distant.  At  the  two  last  named  places  such  operations 
pay  well.  The  Basset  claim,  on  Binggold  Hill,  has  been  one  of 
the  most  remunerative  in  the  State.  Its  richness  was  discovered 


THE    MINING   DISTRICTS.  87 

by  sinking  a  perpendicular  shaft,  from  which  a  large  amount 
of  gold  was  taken,  but  water  finally  drove  the  miners  out.  A 
tunnel  was  then  run,  but  this  proved  to  be  too  high  to  drain 
off  the  water.  Another  then  had  to  be  commenced,  and  the 
work  upon  the  two  occupied  nearly  two  years,  during  all  of 
which  time  the  claim  was  wholly  unproductive.  The  owners 
have  struggled  along  with  great  difficulty,  contending  with 
poverty  and  debt  until  they  could  hardly  obtain  credit  for  food. 
Since  they  'struck  it,'  they  are  independent,  and  $150,000  is 
said  to  have  been  taken  from  their  tunnel,  and  rewarded  their 
persevering  industry.  There  are  a  number  of  quartz  leads  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Placerville  which  are  known  to  be  rich, 
and  will  pay  well  to  work. 

"  The  country  in  the  vicinity  of  Diamond  Springs  is  rather 
flat  or  rolling,  and  the  bed-rock,  which  is  a  soft,  gray  slate,  lies 
close  to  the  surface.  The  mining  consists  in  washing  the  gravel 
and  a  few  inches  of  the  rock,  in  long  sluices,  worked  by  com- 
panies of  from  two  to  four  men. 

"  Eighteen  miles  southeast  of  Placerville  by  the  trail,  or 
twenty-five  miles  by  the  stage  road,  is  Grizzly  Flat.  In  the 
lower  portions  of  Cedar  Canon,  String  Canon,  Lyon's  Canon 
and  Steeley's  Fork,  a  few  miners  have  water  sufficient  during 
summer  to  work  their  claims,  and  some  of  them  are  doing  well. 
In  winter  time,  when  water  is  plenty,  mining  is  carried  on,  and 
good  pay  is  made  on  the  large  flat  directly  back  of  the  town, 
at  Hereford's  Ranch,  Chris'  Ranch,  Spring  Flat  and  Meadow's 
Flat,  and  in  other  places  in  the  vicinity.  In  the  flats,  the  soil 
and  clay  above  the  pay-dirt  and  bed-rock  are  about  twelve 
feet  in  depth,  and  as  there  is  sufficient  fall  to  the  water,  it  is 
used  in  the  hydraulic  fashion  in  washing.  . 

"  There  are  several  quartz  leads  on  Steeley's  Fork  of  the 
Cosumnes  river,  but  the  gold  from  them  is  of  poor  quality, 
containing  a  large  percentage  of  silver  and  base  metal.  The 
amalgam  is  in  summer  time  worth  but  six  or  seven  dollars 
per  ounce,  and  in  winter  but  three  ;  and  the  gold,  when  sent  to 
the  Mint,  produces  from  thirteen  to  fourteen  dollars  per  ounce. 
As  the  mills  are  located  on  the  bank  of  the  river  which  here 
runs  through  a  steep  canon,  the  quartz  has  to  be  carried  down 
to  them  from  the  veins  which  are  near  the  tops  of  the  hills,  a 
distance  of  from  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  a  mile  and  a  quarter. 
Some  of  this  work  is  done  by  wagons,  but  two  of  the  mills 
have  cars  and  wooden  railroads,  one  of  which  is  over  a  mile  in 
length,  and  the  other  three  quarters  of  a  mile." 


88  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

The  mining  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  town  of  El 
Dorado,  formerly  called  Mud  Springs,  is  chiefly  in  shallow  sur- 
face diggings.  About  a  mile  distant  is  the  Pocahontas  quartz 
lead,  of  which  Mr.  Capp  says  : 

"  For  a  couple  of  years  it  was  worked  by  Mexicans,  whose 
only  aim  was  to  get  out  the  richest  of  the  rock,  with  as  little 
trouble  as  possible,  and  with  no  regard  whatever  for  the  future. 
In  1854,  a  Dr.  Scott  undertook  to  work  the  lead,  using  an 
apparatus  called  Bullock's  crusher,  to  pulverize  the  rock.  This 
is  similar  in  principle  and  shape  to  a  Chile  mill,  but  much 
heavier,  and  was  turned  by  horse-power.  Though  machines  of 
this  kind  are  said  to  be  used  with  great  success  in  the  eastern 
States,  for  want  of  experience  this  proved  useless  here,  and 
after  an  outlay  of  $6,000,  the  experiment  was  abandoned  as  a 
failure,  and  the  machine  sold  as  old  iron  to  a  foundry.  The 
vein  is  about  two  feet  and  a  half  in  thickness,  crossing  a  small 
flat,  in  nearly  an  east  and  west  direction,  with  a  dip  of  about 
forty-five  degrees.  It  is  worked  from  inclined  shafts.  The 
quartz  is  not  much  decomposed,  but  lies  in  thin  layers,  and  is 
thus  easily  broken  up  and  taken  out,  at  the  rate  of  from  three- 
fourths  of  a  ton  to  double  that  quantity  per  day  to  the  hand. 
The  quartz  is  white,  and  marked  with  greenish  veins,  contain- 
ing sulphurets  of  iron,  in  connection  with  which  the  gold  is 
found.  The  lowest  yield,  when  ordinary  rock  was  ground,  has 
been  $18.45  per  ton.  It  is  seldom  that  the  gold  is  visible  in 
this  rock,  though  a  number  of  pieces  selected  at  random  in  the 
mine,  and  from  the  heaps  of  rock  around  the  mouth  of  the 
shaft,  when  tested  in  a  mortar,  all  yielded  good  prospects. 

"  Indian  Diggings  is  a  mining  village  twenty-five  miles  south- 
eastward from  Placerville,  on  the  bank  of  Indian  creek.  In 
this  district,  a  belt  of  limestone,  or  blue  and  white  marble,  rises 
in  ridges  through  the  slate  bed-rock,  and  is  in  places  cut  by 
the  water  into  long  and  deep  channels,  some  of  which  serve  as 
natural  tail  races  for  the  miners,  but  it  oftener  renders  large 
amounts  of  blasting  necessary.  The  claims  in  the  bed  of  the 
creek  formerly  paid  well,  as  the  tailings  washed  down  from  the 
hydraulic  claims  above  continually  enriched  them.  In  some  of 
the  creek  claims,  in  the  middle  of  the  channel,  deep  holes  were 
found,  filled  with  a  kind  of  dirt  different  from  that  above  it. 
This  was  sometimes  extremely  rich,  and  in  one  claim  a  single 
panful  paid  three  dollars.  Another  singular  feature  connected 
with  these  deep  places  is,  that  they  seem  to  have  subterranean 


THE    MINING   DISTRICTS.  9 

outlets,  for  in  one  instance  a  hundred  inches  of  water  poured 
in  for  three  days,  with  all  the  dirt  it  washed  down,  failed  to 
have  any  perceptible  effect  in  filling  it  up.  It  was  finally 
stopped  with  bushes  and  gravel,  and  the  water  turned  off.  A 
mile  or  more  above  this,  in  another  claim,  a  similar  hole  was 
discovered,  and  forty  inches  of  water  poured  in  for  several 
hours  produced  no  visible  progress  towards  filling  it.  Here 
the  miner  was  in  doubt  whether  there  was  a  rich  deposit  of  gold 
awaiting  him  down  there,  or  whether  the  bottom  of  his  claim 
had  fallen  out  altogether." 

Amador  County.  §  75.  The  principal  mining  towns  of 
Amador  county  are  Butte  City,  Amador  City,  Volcano  and 
Jackson,  the  last  being  the  county  seat,  and  fifty-one  miles 
distant  from  Sacramento  in  a  south-eastward  direction. 

"  The  principal  rock  around  Volcano,"  says  Mr.  Capp,  "  is 
a  hard  blue  and  white  limestone,  or  coarse  marble.  Under 
this,  and  mixed  with  it,  lies  the  ordinary  brown  and  gray  slate, 
common  to  all  the  mining  districts.  Above  the  limestone,  and 
forming  the  tops  of  the  hills,  is  a  light  gray,  yellow  and  red- 
dish colored  stone,  somewhat  resembling  coarse  chalk,  but 
harder.  This  the  miners  call « lava ;'  geologists, '  tufa.'  When 
some  portions  of  this  stone  are  exposed  to  the  atmosphere,  they 
soon  commence  to  crack,  and  the  corners  and  angles  scale  off, 
and  finally  are  decomposed  into  a  fine  light  powder,  resembling 
pulverized  clay.  Other  portions  of  the  rock  are  harder  and 
much  more  durable,  and  as  they  may  easily  be  worked  and 
squared  with  an  ax  or  sharp  stone  hammer,  they  make  a  hand- 
some and  useful  building  stone.  In  some  of  the  hills  large 
masses  of  rock  are  found,  portions  of  which  appear  to  contain 
iron,  and  are  full  of  cells,  from  one  to  four  inches  in  diameter, 
the  sides  of  which  are  lined  with  curious  coatings  of  minute 
crystals.  Other  portions  of  this  rock  are  beautifully  marked, 
and  resemble  flint.  All  this  rock  has  the  appearance  of  hav- 
ing been  melted. 

"  In  the  hills  behind  the  town  very  many  claims  have  been 
opened,  both  by  tunnels  and  in  the  hydraulic  fashion,  to  reach 
a  layer  of  pay-dirt  found  under  the  lava  and  on  top  of  the 
limestone  and  slate.  These  works  have  been  extremely  labori- 
ous and  expensive,  and  as  there  is  no  regular  and  well  defined 
lead,  while  a  few  of  the  claims  have  paid  well,  others  have 
merely  yielded  low  wages,  and  the  rest  have  not  remunerated 


90  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

the  miners  for  the  labor  and  money  expended.  The  hydraulic 
claims  can  only  be  worked  during  the  spring  and  winter,  when 
water  is  plenty,  and  those  miners  working  tunnels  are  also  un- 
able to  wash  the  pay-dirt  they  take  out  in  summer  time,  for 
the  same  reason.  The  amount  of  blasting  required  is  also 
large,  so  that,  as  a  general  thing,  mining  operations  at  Vol- 
cano are  carried  on  under  many  disadvantages.  Many  of  the 
hill-sides  back  of  Volcano  are  composed  of  rough,  loose  frag- 
ments of  limestone,  blackened  by  exposure  to  the  atmosphere 
and  decay.  This,  together  with  the  conical  shape  of  some  of 
the  smaller  hills,  the  curious  crystalline  and  porous  structure  of 
a  brown  and  flinty  rock  which  would  seem  to  have  been  melted, 
and  the  presence  of  large  quantities  of  the  rock  which  the 
miners  call  lava,  are,  I  believe,  the  peculiarities  which  gave 
occasion  for  the  name  '  Volcano, '  which  was  bestowed  on  the 
town.  The  rock  called  lava  is,  however,  not  at  all  peculiar  to 
this  locality,  but  is  much  more  plentiful  in  many  other  very 
different  looking  places.  Its  appearance  and  texture  also  indi- 
cate that  it  is  a  sedimentary  deposit  and  not  a  molten  rock, 
and  as  such  it  is  regarded  by  all  intelligent  persons  in  most 
other  places,  though  it  often  goes  there  by  the  same  name." 

Calaveras  County,  g  76.  The  principal  mining  towns 
of  Calaveras  county,  are  Mokelumne  Hill,  San  Andres, 
Angel's,  Murphy's,  Yallecito,  and  West  Point.  Mokelumne 
Hill,  the  county  seat,  is  sixty-nine  miles  from  Stockton. 

"  Every  variety  of  mining  operations  has  been  carried  on 
successfully  in  the  neighborhood  of  Mokelumne  city.  The 
Mokelumne  river  has  been  flumed  year  after  year,  and  thou- 
sands of  miners  have  made  wages  or  i  their  piles '  from  its  oft- 
washed  bed  and  banks.  Chinamen  are  the  principal  miners 
along  this  stream  during  the  summer  season,  and  I  was 
informed  that  they  had  expended  seventy  thousand  dollars  in 
the  purchase  of  claims,  and  to  secure  themselves  from  molesta- 
tion in  working  them.  The  hill-sides  are  whitened  by  the 
marks  of  hydraulic  mining  and  the  tailings  from  the  numer- 
ous tunnels  that  have  been  run.  There  is  scarcely  one  of  the 
numerous  ravines  and  gulches  in  the  vicinity,  the  bed  of  which 
has  not  been  overturned,  year  after  year,  since  1849  ;  first, 
with  the  butcher-knife  and  pan  or  batea  ;  then,  with  the  pick 
and  shovel  and  the  rocker ;  next,  with  the  long-torn ;  and 
finally,  with  the  sluices.  At  last  they  were  abandoned  to  the 


THE     MINING    DISTRICTS.  l 

Chinamen  with  their  rockers  and  the  Digger  Indian  women 
with  their  little  crow-bars,  horn  scrapers  and  tin  pans. 

"  The  tall  Stockton  hill,  which  lies  west  of  the  town,  was 
originally  taken  up  in  small  claims  only  a  few  feet  square,  and 
large  numbers  of  perpendicular  shafts  were  sunk  in  it.  Few 
or  none  of  them  paid  well,  as  water  interfered  sadly  with  the 
operations  of  the  miners.  Many  of  these  claims  were  aban- 
doned ;  and  others  were  finally  consolidated  into  a  couple  of 
large  tunneling  claims.  A  very  lengthy  tunnel  was  then  run, 
at  a  depth  sufficient  to  insure  the  requisite  drainage,  and  it 
has  been  worked  successfully  for  two  or  three  years  back. 
The  old  shafts  are  yet  open  on  the  hillside,  and  the  large 
heaps  of  white  clay  and  cement  by  which  they  are  surrounded, 
remain  as  monuments  of  the  misdirected  industry  of  the  miners 
of  1852. 

"  A  short  distance  east  of  the  town  commences  a  high  ridge, 
about  six  miles  in  length,  which  has  been  taken  up,  from  one 
end  to  the  other,  in  tunneling  claims. 

"  The  main  wealth  of  the  district  about  West  Point  con- 
sists in  its  quartz  leads,  which  are  so  numerous  that  several 
of  the  residents  informed  me  that,  starting  three  miles  north  of 
West  Point,  and  proceeding  south  for  a  distance  of  nine 
miles  to  the  junction  of  the  forks  of  the  Mokelumne,  a  person 
would  cross  a  quartz  vein  in  every  hundred  yards.  About 
one  hundred  of  these  veins  have  been  prospected  upon  the  sur- 
face, and  scarcely  any  have  been  found  that  did  no4  prove  to 
contain  gold.  As  a  proof  of  the  richness  of  the  veins  of  this 
district,  it  would  be  sufficient  to  state  that  large  numbers  of 
Mexicans  and  other  Spaniards  are  now  working  them  suc- 
cessfully, although  they  pay  from  one  dollar  to  one  dollar  and 
fifty  cents  per  cargo  of  three  hundred  pounds,  to  have  the  rock 
ground  in  arastras,  to  which  freight  from  the  leads  to  the  mills 
along  the  river  has  also  to  be  added.  Mexicans  who  do  their 
own  work,  cannot  possibly  afford  to  work  rock  that  does  not 
at  least  pay  three  dollars  per  cargo,  or  twenty  dollars  per  ton, 
and  in  fact  they  seldom  do  work  rock  that  pays  less  than  six 
dollars  per  cargo  and  forty  dollars  per  ton. 

"  There  is  very  little  slate  in  this  district,  and  nearly  all  the 
quartz  veins  are  encased  in  granite,  which  is  usually  much 
decomposed.  Occasionally,  the  granite  appears  to  'pinch' 
the  quartz  leads-  until  they  become  very  thin  ;  but  by  tracing 
them  on  further,  or  downwards,  they  again  swell  out  to  their 


92  HAND-BOOK   OP   MINING. 

original  size,  and  sometimes  bulge  out  beyond  it.  In  such 
places,  and  at  the  intersection  of  small  veins,  very  rich  deposits 
of  gold  are  frequently  found,  which,  from  their  narrowness  and 
the  depth  to  which  they  extend,  the  Spaniards  call  clavos  or 
nails.  In  other  places,  the  granite  becomes  somewhat  mixed 
with  the  quartz,  which  is  what  the  Spaniards  call  bora,  or  in 
speaking  of  the  quartz,  they  say  it  is  emborascado." 

Angel's  is  one  of  the  first  quartz  mining  places  in  the  State. 
The  principal  portion  of  the  rock  "  is  of  a  greenish  and  gray 
color,  and  contains  large  quantities  of  the  sulphuret  of  iron. 
Mixed  with  this,  are  streaks  and  veins  of  white  quartz  or 
limestone.  The  sulphurets  are  found,  either  in  irregular, 
bright,  crystalline  masses,  or  small  threads  and  veins.  Some 
of  these  veins  are  as  much  as  eight  inches  in  thickness.  In 
other  portions  of  the  green  rock,  the  sulphurets  are  scattered 
all  through  it,  as  separate  and  minute  square  crystals.  The 
whole  formation  will  probably  become  one  solid  vein  when 
any  considerable  depth  is  reached  ;  but  near  the  surface  it  is 
cut  up  into  separate  veins  by  streaks  and  wedges  of  slate, 
which  do  not  appear  to  contain  any  gold.  These  streaks  of 
slate  are  from  a  tew  inches  to  several  feet  in  thickness.  The 
poorer  portions  of  the  rock  contain  from  twelve  to  sixteen  per 
cent,  of  the  sulphurets,  while  the  richest  are  nearly  pure  crys- 
tals, among  which  the  gold  is  seen  shining  in  small  particles 
and  scale*" 

The  mines  about  Murphy's  are  chiefly  of  the  placer  kind, 
with  much  deep  digging. 

At  Copperopolis,  in  the  south-eastern  part  of  this  county, 
are  rich  veins  of  copper  ore,  which  have  lately  been  opened, 
and  in  which  men  are  now  regularly  employed  at  mining. 

Tuolumne  County.  $  77.  Tuolumne  is  the  most  im- 
portant mining  county  in  the  Southern  mines.  The  principal 
mining  towns  are  Columbia,  Sonora,  Shaw's  Flat,  Chinese 
Camp  and  Big  Oak  Flat.  Sonora,  the  county  seat,  is  sixty- 
five  miles  from  Stockton.  There  has,  probably,  been  no  placer 
district  in  the  State  so  rich,  within  the  same  extent,  as  that 
within  five  miles  of  Sonora.  No  other  part  of  the  State  has 
furnished  so  many  large  nuggets.  Two  very  large  ditches 
furnish  water  to  the  miners  near  Columbia  and  Sonora ;  but 
of  late,  much  damage  has  been  done  to  one  of  these  ditches,  by 
malicious  persons,  who  have  injured  the  works  so  that  much  of 
the  supply  of  water  has  been  cut  off.  One  of  the  greatest 


THE    MINING   DISTRICTS.  93 

wonders  of  the  California!!  mines  is  Table  Mountain,  in  this 
county.  It  is  a  long  hill  or  mountain  of  basalt,  from  one 
hundred  to  seven  hundred  feet  high,  from  a  hundred  to  five 
hundred  yards  wide,  and  thirty  miles  long.  Its  course  is  ser- 
pentine ;  its  general  direction,  south-west ;  its  eastern  end  is  in 
Calaveras  county,  its  western  near  Dent's  Ferry,  Amador 
county,  while  the  great  body  of  it  is  in  Tuolumne  county.  It 
passes  near  Sonora.  Its  surface  is  nearly  level,  gradually  de- 
scending towards  the  westward.  General  opinion  has  decided 
that  this  mountain  was  formed  by  a  stream  of  lava,  which  ran 
down  the  bed  of  an  ancient  river,  filling  the  river  bed  to  a 
level  with  the  banks  ;  and  that,  in  the  course  of  time,  the  banks 
were  carried  away,  leaving  the  hardened  lava  rising  above  the 
adjacent  country  like  a  mountain.  The  basalt  is  certainly  of 
volcanic  origin,  and  no  other  explanation  is  given  of  its  narrow 
course  and  steep  banks.  Besides,  the  existence  of  an  ancient 
river  bed  under  the  mountain  cannot  be  denied.  There  are 
the  beds  of  gravel  and  clay  ;  the  flat  stones  all  pointing  down 
stream ;  the  water-worn  bed ;  the  remains  of  trees  and  fresh 
water  mollusca  ;  the  gold  which  was  collected  by  the  water  ; 
and  the  tributary  streams.  This  old  river  bed  is  extremely 
rich.  In  one  place,  a  tract  one  hundred  feet  square,  yielded 
$75,000  in  gold,  or  $7.50  to  the  square  foot.  The  pay-dirt  is 
from  six  inches  to  six  feet  deep.  The  richness  of  the  dirt  was 
discovered  by  following  a  lead  which  had  been  one  of  the  small 
tributaries  of  this  ancient  river.  This  lead  did  not  take  the 
miners  fully  into  the  great  wealth  of  the  old  river  bed  ;  but  it 
suggested  the  existence  of  a  vast  treasure  there,  and  they  cut 
a  tunnel  through  into  the  channel ;  for  the  only  way  of 
reaching  the  gold,  except  at  one  or  two  places,  where  little 
streams  emptied  into  the  large  river,  was  to  cut  tunnels  through 
the  rim-rock,  which  rose  along  the  edge  of  the  ancient  river, 
above  the  channel  and  above  the  level  of  the  ground  along  the 
side  of  the  mountain.  The  facts  of  the  existence  of  the  ancient 
river  bed,  and  its  richness,  were  discovered  and  made  known 
in  October,  1854,  and  created  a  great  excitement.  Some 
persons  made  fortunes,  and  others  lost  them.  In  one  case, 
$100,000  were  spent  in  cutting  a  tunnel  or  drift,  and  then  it 
was  useless  because  too  high,  and  the  company  had  to  cut 
another  one.  The  tunnels  to  reach  the  pay-dirt  under  Table 
Mountain,  are  from  600  to  1200  feet  long.  Of  late,  the 
owners  of  claims  in  Table  Mountain  are  getting  the  dirt  out 


94  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

through  inclined  shafts,  which  start  into  the  hill  above  the  top 
of  the  rim-rock,  so  that  they  are  spared  the  expense  of  blasting. 
The  water  is  drained  out  by  the  older  tunnels. 

Eastward  from  Sonora  are  some  of  the  richest  quartz  veins 
in  the  State,  and  one  claim,  called  the  Soulsby  lead,  is 
especially  noted  for  the  very  rich  quartz  which  it  has  furnished 
in  times  past.  Very  little  has  been  said  of  late  about  this 
claim  ;  but  in  1858  it  attracted  great  attention.  The  Sonora 
Democrat  spoke  thus  of  it,  when  the  mill  attached  to  the  claim 
commenced  operations  : 

"  Last  Saturday  the  amount  of  retorted  gold  brought  to  So- 
nora, from  the  week's  crushing  by  this  mill,  was  sixty-five 
pounds.  After  the  above  result  was  known,  a  remaining 
balance  of  amalgam  was  retorted,  yielding  over  nine  and  one- 
half  pounds  of  gold.  For  the  week's  operation,  therefore,  the 
sum  of  seventy-four  and  one-half  pounds  of  gold,  worth  $15,000, 
has  been  brought  into  town  from  the  claim  of  Street  &  Soulsby. 

"  The  number  of  hands  employed  in  this  claim,  in  raising 
quartz,  wheeling  and  grinding  the  same,  etc.,  is  nine.  The  cost, 
as  yet,  of  raising  and  delivering  the  rock  at  the  mill,  is  less 
than  four  dollars  per  ton.  The  mill  has  been  in  operation 
just  nineteen  days,  and  the  aggregate  of  gold  already  saved 
from  this  operation,  during  said  time,  amounts  to  two  hundred 
and  fifteen  pounds  and  three  ounces,  worth  $40,000. 

"  The  claim  of  Street  &  Soulsby  is  2,400  feet  on  the  line  of 
their  lode.  They  have  explored  this  lode  at  various  points, 
and  to  various  depths,  and  in  no  single  instance  has  rock  been 
raised  showing  any  diminution  of  richness.  Now,  the  vein  at 
every  point,  exceeds  the  thickness  of  two  feet.  It  becomes 
wider  or  thicker  than  this  as  their  explorations  descend.  Also, 
the  rock  yields,  under  the  imperfect  process  of  their  stampers, 
more  than  $200  per  ton.  Now,  take  the  above  data,  which 
are  below  the  truth,  in  the  richness  and  width  of  the  vein,  and, 
by  the  assumption  that  the  same  quality  of  rock  occurs  at  the 
depth  of  one  hundred  feet,  we  arrive  at  the  following  result : 
Length  of  lode,  1,200  feet ;  depth,  100  feet ;  thickness,  two 
feet ;  1200x100x2 — 240,000  cubic  feet  of  gold-bearing  quartz. 
Supposing  the  specific  gravity  of  this  quartz  to  be  two  and 
one-half,  (we  think  it  to  be  nearly  three)  we  find  that  twelve 
cubic  feet  thereof  will  weigh  one  ton.  Therefore  the  above 
estimate,  by  a  little  simple  arithmetic,  shows  the  quantity  of 
quartz,  within  one  hundred  feet  of  the  surface  of  the  said  lode, 


THE   MINING    DISTRICTS.  95 

to  be  twenty  thousand  tons.  As  this  rock  yields  $200  per 
ton,  ($300  is  nearer  the  truth)  it  presents,  on  the  above  esti- 
mate, the  astounding  value  of  $4,000,000." 

Large  districts  in  Tuolumne  county,  including  the  mining 
grounds  at  Chinese  Camp,  rich  as  surface  diggings,  had  a 
shallow  bed  of  red  gravel,  from  six  inches  to  six  feet  deep, 
lying  upon  brown,  yellow  and  greenish  slates,  the  strata  of 
which  were  perpendicular.  Here  and  there,  pieces  of  the  slate 
would  project  above  the  gravel,  looking  like  grave-stones.  It 
has  been  suggested  that  the  richness  of  this  ground  might  be 
explained,  by  supposing  that  a  great  body  of  auriferous  matter 
had  been  swept,  by  water,  over  these  slates,  which  caught  the 
gold,  as  a  riffle  does,  by  its  rough  surface. 

Mariposa  County.  $  78.  Mariposa  county  was  once 
very  rich  in  shallow  placer  diggings  ;  but  now  its  chief  wealth 
lies  in  the  quartz  mines  in  Bear  Valley,  on  Fremont's  ranch. 
The  Ben  ton  quartz  mill  is  the  largest  in  the  State,  and  has 
forty-eight  stamps,  and  has  a  capacity  to  crush  seventy-two 
tons  of  quartz  per  day.  There  are  four  quartz  mills  on  the 
ranch,  with  ninety-one  stamps  in  all.  A  railroad,  four  miles 
long,  conveys  the  rock  from  the  vein  to  the  mills.  The  various 
mills  on  this  ranch  now  yield  $60,000  per  month. 

"  There  are,"  says  a  correspondent  of  the  Alia  California, 
"  about  twenty  known  quartz  leads  on  the  grant,  nearly  all  of 
which  communicate ;  but  the  *  Josephine '  and  '  Pine  Tree  ' 
are  the  principal — in  fact,  the  latter  is  termed  the  mother  of  the 
quartz  leads.  These  veins  run  about  north-west,  and  the  Pine 
Tree  is  traced  from  near  Mount  Ophir,  all  through  Bear  Valley, 
and  thence  along  the  ridge  of  Mount  Bullion,  to  tbe  Merced 
river.  Here  and  there  the  quartz  seems  cut  off,  or  spread  into 
several  smaller  veins,  by  the  interference  of  different  rocks  ; 
and,  as  a  general  thing,  these  smaller  veins  possess  some  rich- 
ness. After  several  disruptions,  these  smaller  parallel  veins 
appear  to  unite  into  a  compact  lead,  and  even  as  far  as  Pena 
Blanca,  twenty  miles  from  the  Merced,  their  out-croppings 
form  the  marked  crest  of  that  locality.  Although  the  Joseph- 
ine vein  is,  apparently,  a  split  from  the  Pine  Tree  or  mother 
vein,  it  apparently  belongs  to  a  later  geological  period,  as  is 
evidenced  by  the  character  of  their  relative  ores.  Both  rocks 
are  of  flinty  hardness,  and  white,  with  here  and  there  streaks 
.  of  dark  gray,  nearly  black,  from  the  deposit  of  sulphurets. 


96  HAND-BOOK   OP   MINING. 

The  Pine  Tree  quartz  presents  its  metals  mostly  in  an  oxydised 
state,  the  iron  looking  rusty  or  red,  the  copper  as  red  oxide,  or 
blue  and  green  carbonate,  which  gives  a  variegated  and  fan- 
tastical appearance  to  the  rock,  much  of  which  is  truly  beau- 
tiful. Instances  of  perfect  crystallization  have  been  known 
but  rarely,  although  now  arid  then  imperfect  formations, 
through  which  are  traced  fine  lines  of  gold  and  copper,  have 
been  met  with.  The  Josephine  rock,  unlike  the  Pine  Tree, 
presents  all  the  sulphurets  in  their  original  metallic  luster,  and 
is  free  from  any  marks  of  atmospheric  action  ;  in  fact,  this  and 
the  Princeton  vein  contain  the  most  of  their  metal  in  the  form 
of  sulphurets. 

"  The  peculiarity  of  the  Josephine  vein  is  the  streaks,  layers 
or  strata  of  sulphurated  rock  found  therein.  These  run,  in 
various  thicknesses,  as  far  as  the  work  exhibits,  and  four  dif- 
ferent ones  have  been  found.  The  most  westerly  of  these  layers, 
which  is  struck  about  one  hundred  and  eighty  feet  from  the 
mouth  of  Black  Drift,  is  from  twenty  to  twenty-two  feet  in 
thickness,  the  rock  paying  from  forty-five  to  fifty  dollars  per 
ton.  The  sulphurets  are  somewhat  coarse,  bright  in  color,  ap- 
pearing mostly  in  scales,  with  no  free  gold  apparent  amongst 
them.  The  second  streak,  and  the  richest  ore,  is  struck  about 
two  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet  from  the  mouth  of  the  same 
drift,  is  about  fifteen  feet  in  width,  composed  of  compact  and 
fine  sulphurets,  carrying  with  them  a  large  amount  of  free 
gold,  which  is  plainly  visible  to  the  unaided  eye.  In  the  drift, 
by  the  light  of  a  candle,  the  rock  glistens,  as  if  faced  with 
diamonds.  This  rock,  by  careful  treatment,  pays  from  five 
hundred  to  two  thousand  dollars  per  ton.  The  rock  or  quartz 
is  pearly  white  in  color,  with  streaks  of  dark  bluish  gray,  very 
hard,  softening  on  exposure,  and  partaking  more  of  feldspar 
than  the  rock  which  is  taken  from  the  more  southerly  leads,  in 
which  lime  appears.  Seventy  feet  beyond  the  second  streak, 
the  largest  strata  is  found.  This  is  from  thirty  to  thirty-five 
feet  in  width,  and  of  the  same  character  as  the  first,  differing, 
however,  somewhat,  as  the  first  ten  feet  on  the  westerly  side 
contain  a  small  quantity  of  free  gold.  Twenty  feet  further  on, 
another  streak  has  been  struck,  the  thickness  of  which  has  not 
yet  been  ascertained.  The  sulphurets  here  are  in  cubes,  con- 
taining, but  little  gold.  All  these  streaks  run  through  the 
vein  perpendicularly,  at  an  angle  of  eighteen  degrees,  tending 
alike  towards  the  junction  of  the  Pine  Tree  and  Josephine 


THE    MINING   DISTRICTS.  97 

veins,  where  the  quartz  is  at  least  some  thirty  feet  thick,  and 
where  a  vast  deposit  of  very  rich  ore  will  undoubtedly  be  found. 

"  The  Princeton,  or  Eidgway  &  Steptoe  vein,  is  located 
seven  miles  from  Bear  Valley,  and  two  miles  from  Mount 
Ophir,  being  two  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-two  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  Merced  river.  Two  drifts  are  being  run, 
which  are  connected  with  the  surface  by  four  shafts.  The  vein 
averages  from  three  and  one-half  to  four  feet,  and  is  cased  in 
friable  slate,  requiring  great  care  in  working,  and  much  ex- 
pense in  timbering.  At  a  depth  of  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five 
feet,  the  rock  pays  from  fifteen  to  twenty  dollars  ;  at  the  depth 
of  from  sixty  to  eighty  feet,  it  pays  from  thirty  to  forty-five 
dollars.  The  main  shaft  is  opened  one  thousand  feet,  from  the 
western  to  the  eastern  shaft.  In  the  eastern  shaft,  at  a  depth 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty  feet,  the  rock  pays  forty-two  dollars  ; 
in  the  Green  shaft,  at  a  distance  of  six  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  feet,  at  a  depth  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  feet,  it 
averages  thirty  dollars.  At  the  Kidgway  shaft,  two  hundred 
feet  further  distant,  at  eighty  feet  depth,  it  pays  thirty-five 
dollars  ;  and  at  the  New  Whim  shaft,  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
nine  feet  still  further,  at  fifty  feet  depth,  the  rock  pays  thirty 
dollars.  A  portion  of  the  rock  is  filled  with  sulphurets,  richly 
sprinkled  with  free  gold  The  peculiar  feature  of  the  rock  is, 
the  beautiful  laminated  appearance  of  the  gold,  which,  polished 
as  bright  as  if  by  the  hands  of  a  goldsmith,  is  found  attached, 
in  single  or  double  leaves,  to  the  white  quartz,  by  a  single 
thread." 

A  large  portion  of  the  richest  mining  land  in  the  county  is 
owned  by  J.  C.  Fremont.  Mariposa  town,-  the  county  seat  of 
Mariposa  county,  is  ninety-five  miles  from  Stockton,  ii{a  south- 
eastern direction. 

There  are  a  few  miners  in  Fresno,  the  most  southern  county 
of  the  "  Southern  mines,"  but  there  is  nothing  peculiar  about 
the  diggings  there. 

We  have  thus  given  a  general  idea  of  the  main  features  of 
the  main  or  Sacramento  gold  mining  district  of  California,  and 
shall  devote  less  space  to  the  other  districts,  which  are  of  less 
importance,  and  possess  the  same  general  character. 

Shasta  District.  $  79.  The  next  in  importance  of  the 
gold  mining  districts  of  California,  is  that  at  the  northern  end 
of  the  State,  including  the  counties  oT  Shasta,  Siskiyou,  Trin- 


98  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

ity,  Klamath  and  Del  Norte.  This  may  be  called  the  Shasta 
district.  It  is  nearly  one  hundred  miles  square,  and  is  watered 
by  the  head  waters  of  the  Sacramento  river  with  its  tributa- 
ries, Clear  creek,  Cottonwood  creek,  Churn  creek,  McCloud 
river  and  Pitt  river,  and  by  the  Klamath  river  with  its  tributa- 
ries— Trinity  river,  Scott  river,  Shasta  creek  and  so  on.  Most 
of  the  miners  in  this  district  are  at  work  in  placer  diggings  of 
various  kinds ;  quartz  mills  are  not  so  numerous  or  so  large  as 
in  the  Sacramento  district. 

Shasta  City,  the  county  seat  of  Shasta  county,  is  176  miles 
from  Sacramento  ;  Yreka,  the  county  seat  of  Siskiyou,  is  248 
miles  from  Sacramento ;  Weaver ville,  the  county  seat  of  Trin- 
ity, is  210  miles  from  Sacramento;  Orleans  Bar,  the  county 
seat  of  Klamath,  is  250  miles  from  Sacramento  ;  and  Crescent 
City,  the  county  seat  of  Del  Norte,  is  300  miles,  by  sea — the 
route  of  all  the  trade — from  San  Francisco.  In  Klamath 
county,  on  the  sea  shore,  is  the  famous  Gold  Bluff,  that  caused 
the  great  excitement  in  1850.  There  is  here  a  high  bluff  bank, 
at  the  foot  of  which  is  a  sand  beach,  much  of  which  lies  be- 
tween high  and  low  tide  marks.  This  beach  has  been  made  by 
the  washing  away  of  the  auriferous  bluff,  and  the  particles  of 
gold  are  left  in  the  sand  ;  but  they  are  so  very  fine,  that  they 
move  about  with  the  sand,  and  are  scarcely  to  be  caught  by 
the  miner.  A  mining  shaft  six  hundred  and  fifty  feet  deep,  the 
deepest  in  the  State,  was  dug  about  a  mile  north  of  Weaver- 
ville.  It  was  undertaken  to  discover  whether  gold  could  not 
be  found  on  the  bed-rock,  and  most  of  the  labor  was  paid  for 
by  public  subscription.  Neither  bed-rock  nor  gold  was  found. 
The  next  deepest  shaft  in  the  State  was  sunk  at  Sutter  creek, 
Amador  county,  three  hundred  and  fifteen  feet  deep,  in  a  pay- 
ing quartz  vein. 

The  placers  of  the  lower  portions  of  the  Klamath  and 
Trinity  rivers  contain  much  platinum,  indium  and  osmium, 
amounting  in  some  spots  to  one  half  as  much  as  the  gold. 
The  three  metals  are  usually  found  together,  platinum  forming 
forty  per  cent,  of  the  three.  All  are  whitish,  silver-like  metals, 
of  nearly  the  same  specific  gravity  with  gold,  from  which, 
therefore,  they  cannot  be  separated  by  washing.  It  is  so  diffi- 
cult to  separate  them  by  processes  used  in  laboratories,  that 
the  Mints  will  not  receive  dust  containing  either  of  these 
metals,  though  occasionally  a  bit  will  slip  into  the  coin,  where 
it  appears  as  a  whitish  or  yellowish  speck  in  the  gold  ;  for  these 


THE    MINING   DISTRICTS.  99 

white  metals  do  not  melt  and  mix  freely  with  the  gold.  The 
only  convenient  mode  of  separation,  is  with  quicksilver  which 
does  not  unite  with  them,  all  the  gold  being  caught  in  the 
amalgam,  which  gathers  in  large  lumps,  and  may  be  readily 
separated  from  the  independent  particles  of  other  metal.  The 
iridium  and  osmium  are  often  found  mixed  together,  and  are 
then  called  irid-osmium.  There  is  no  demand,  and  no  regular 
price  for  platinum,  iridium  or  osmium  in  California. 

Kern  Kiver  District.  §  80.  The  Kern  river  district 
lies  about  latitude  35°  30',  in  the  south-eastern  corner  of  the 
Sacramento  basin.  The  mining  done  there  now  is  chiefly  in 
quartz,  and  the  arastra  is  the  favorite  instrument  for  pulver- 
izing and  amalgamating.  White  river  is  about  forty  miles 
north  of  Kern  river,  and  belongs  to  the  same  district.  Along 
this  river,  says  a  newspaper  correspondent,  are  "  immense 
boulders  of  granite,  that  seem  to  have  been  by  some  convul- 
sion toppled  from  the  hills,  and  to  have  rolled  down  the 
pitches  to  the  commencement  of  the  level  ground,  where  they 
are  piled  upon  each  other,  to  a  great  height.  The  boulders 
vary  in  size,  being  from  ten  to  fifty  feet  in  diameter.  Being 
round,  there  are,  of  course,  large  crevices  between  them,  in 
different  directions,  that  the  miners  call  caverns,  and  the  gold- 
hunters  travel  through  these  passages  or  caverns  for  a  great 
distance,  seeking  for  an  opportunity  to  get  at  such  portions  of 
the  bed-rock  as  there  is  ample  space  to  work.  When  they 
find  such  a  spot,  they  are  compelled  to  let  themselves  down 
from  one  boulder  to  another,  till  they  reach  it.  Traveling 
through  these  passages  is  quite  a  labyrinth  to  the  uninitiated. 
On  these  placers  not  covered,  the  water  in  the  raining  season 
has,  by  constant  action  for  years,  and  by  the  boulders  acting  as 
dams,  eddied  around  and  worn  into  the  bed-rock,  wells  from 
three  to  ten  feet  in  depth,  and  from  four  to  six  feet  in  width. 
The  dirt  found  in  these  is  very  rich,  all  the  way  down,  though 
such  is  not  the  case  with  holes  of  the  kind  in  rivers.  Much 
of  this  gold  is  mixed  with  crushed  quartz." 

About  latitude  34°  30',  in  the  coast  mountains,  are  the  San 
Francisquito  and  San  Gabriel  diggings,  though  separated  by 
half  a  degree  or  more  of  longitude  from  each  other,  and  each 
about  forty-five  miles  distant  from  Los  Angeles,  which  is  four 
hundred  and  eighty  miles  from  San  Francisco. 

In  latitude  38°  east  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  are  the  Mono 


100  HAND-BOOK    OF   MINING. 

and  Walker  mines,  little  districts  which  have  a  couple  hundred 
miners,  in  the  summer  but  none  in  the  winter. 

Fraser  District.  §  84.  The  mines  of  Fraser  river 
extend  from  latitude  50°  to  58°,  and  they  are  between  one 
hundred  and  two  hundred  miles  distant  from  the  coast.  Some 
auriferous  bars  are  found  along  the  river,  below  the  point 
where  it  breaks  through  the  Cascade  range ;  but  the  great 
body  of  the  diggings  is  east  of  those  mountains.  The  mining 
is  all  done  in  shallow  places  ;  no  rich  quartz  leads  have  been 
discovered,  or  at  least,  none  are  extensively  worked.  The 
river  is  navigable  for  steamboats,  from  the  ocean  to  Fort 
Yale,  a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  ten  miles.  From  there, 
for  a  distance  of  fifty  miles  up  stream,  the  river  is  broken  by 
numerous  falls  and  rapids,  which  may  be  passed  over  in  canoes, 
at  some  stages  of  water  ;  but  always  with  some  difficulty  and 
danger.  The  first  tributary  stream  that  bears  gold  in  its  sands, 
is  Thompson's  river,  which  pours  down  a  large  body  of  water 
from  the  east,  and  empties  into  the  Fraser,  two  hundred  miles 
from  the  sea.  Above  Thompson's  river,  on  the  west,  are 
Bridge  and  Chillicoaten  rivers  ;  on  the  east,  the  Quesnelle  and 
Cariboo  rivers.  All  these  are  gold-bearing.  Sixty  miles 
above  the  mouth  of  Thompson's  river,  is  called  the  "  Canoe 
Country  ;"  beyond  that,  to  the  north,  lies  the  "  Balloon  Coun- 
try ;"  and  beyond  that,  the  "  Cariboo  Country ;"  terms 
objectionable,  because  of  their  indefinite  character ;  but  still 
generally  used.  Access  to  the  mines,  up  the  Fraser,  is  very 
difficult  and  costly  ;  and  there  is  another  route,  by  the  Lillooet 
(or  LAlouette)  river.  The  following  are  the  distances  by  this 
route  : 

From  Fort  Langley  to  mouth  of  Harrison  river 35  miles. 

Across  Harrison  lake 40 

Up  Lillooett  river 50 

Across  Lillooet  lake 18 

Small  river 3 

"  Long  Portage  " • 30 

Across  Third  Lake. 15 

Portage 5 

Across  Lake  Anderson 12 

Last  portage  over  to  Fraser  river ; 8 

Total 216  miles. 

Steamers  run  regularly  from  Victoria  to  Fort  Hope,  and 
from  San  Francisco  to  Victoria. 

The  following  figures  show  the  distances  from  Victoria  to 
the  Big  Falls  of  Fraser  river  : 


THE    MINING    DISTRICTS.  101 

From  Victoria  to  Fort  Langley 80  miles. 

"    Fort  Langley  to  Fort  Hope 60     " 

"    Fort  Hope  to  Fort  Yale 15     " 

"    Fort  Yale  to  Thompson  river 110     ' 

"    Thompson  river  to  Big  Falls,  Fraser  river 75     * 

Total 340  miles. 

The  following  are  the  distances  from  Portland  to  the  Fraser, 
by  way  of  the  Dalles  : 

From  Portland  to  the  Dalles  by  steamboat 90  miles. 

Thence  by  wagons  or  pack  animals  to  Chickitat  valley 25  * 

•'      to  Simcoe 40 

"      "  Yakima 30 

"      "  Columbia  above  Priest  Rapids 35 

41      "  Wenatcnee 65 

"      "  Crossing  Lake  Chelan 35 

"  Methow 30 

"  Okinagan 20 

"      "  Mouth  of  Similkameen  (here  leaves  Rock  creek  route  to 

the  north-east) 60  " 

up  Similkameen 60  " 

to  Nicholas  valley 30  " 

"  Fort  Thompson 45  " 

"  Mouth  of  Kamloops 20  " 

"  Bonaparte  valley  (here  route  up  Fraser  river  intersects). .  as  " 

up  Bonaparte  river 30  " 

to  Goose  lake 25  " 

"      "  Bridge  river 25  " 

"      "  NineMilelake 28  " 

"      "  Williams  lake 30  " 

"      "  Mud  lake  (here  fork  leads  off  to  Fort  Alexander) 30  " 

»•      u  Beaver  lake 25  " 

**      "  Forks  Canal  river 20  * 

Total  distance  from  Portland 823     " 

From  the  Dalles 733     ' 

From  Dalles  to  the  intersection  of  Fraser  river  route 520     k 

Rogue  River.  §  82.  Part  of  Rogue  river  valley,  in 
southern  Oregon,  is  rich  in  gold.  The  country  is  rugged,  and 
much  of  it  covered  with  dense  forests,  which  interfere  greatly 
with  the  labors  of  the  miners,  but  protect  the  mineral  deposits 
from  speedy  exhaustion,  and  secure  some  of  their  profits  for 
future  generations.  The  surface  diggings  of  southern  Oregon 
will,  for  this  reason,  probably  last  longer  than  most  of  those  in 
California.  Some  very  rich  quartz  lodes  have  been  found  in 
Rogue  river  valley.  The  two  most  noted  ones  are  the  "  Ish  " 
lead  and  the  Applegate  lead.  The  Ish  lead,  at  Gold  Hill,  pro- 
duced $20,000  in  one  week  in  1859,  and  in  a  year  paid  about 
$200,000.  Work  in  the  Applegate  lead,  near  Applegate 
creek,  was  commenced  in  June,  1860,  with  an  arastra,  arid  for 
six  months  the  lode  yielded  only  forty  dollars  per  ton,  but  in 
January,  1861,  the  workmen  came  to  very  rich  rock.  In  Feb- 
ruary of  this  year,  the  arastra  was  producing  about  $5,000  per 


102  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

week  clear  profit.  Ten  tons  of  picked  rock  contained  $23,- 
520  of  gold.  Platinum,  indium  and  osmium  are  found  in  the 
western  part  of  Rogue  river  valley,  to  almost  as  great  an  ex- 
tent as  in  the  Klamath  placers. 

Upper  Columbia  District,  g  83.  The  valley  of  the 
Upper  Columbia  contains  a  large  extent  of  auriferous  ground, 
rich  enough  in  many  places  to  pay  for.  working.  The  lowest 
point  where  gold  has  been  discovered  is  near  Fort  Walla- 
Walla,  about  350  miles  from  the  ocean,  and  from  that  point 
upward  for  500  miles  or  more,  along  the  course  of  the  river, 
gold  has  been  found  in  its  banks  and  bars,  but  not  enough  to 
pay  for  working,  except  in  a  few  places.  The  Yakiraa,  the 
Pisquouse,  the  Wenatchee,  and  several  other  streams  running 
down  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Cascade  mountains  to  the  Colum- 
bia, have  had  some  rich  bars.  Gold  is  also  found  on  the  Okan- 
agan  river,  and  along  Okanagan  lake.  The  mines  of  Hock 
creek  and  Kettle  river,  in  the  valley  of  the  Upper  Columbia, 
are  highly  spoken  of.  Rock  creek  is  about  300  miles  distant 
from  the  Dalles,  in  a  northward  direction.  It  is  a  tributary  of 
Kettle  river,  which  empties  into  the  Columbia  near  Fort  Col- 
ville.  Boundary  creek  is  another  tributary  of  Kettle  river, 
and  has  some  rich  bars,  where  miners  are  now  at  work.  All 
the  country  in  this  vicinity  is  auriferous.  The  amount  made 
per  hand  per  day  varies,  of  course,  as  in  all  mines ;  but  the 
wages  for  good  laborers  is  four  dollars  per  day.  There  have 
been  cases  where  men  have  made  more  than  a  hundred  dollars 
a  day  with  a  rocker.  They  were  mining  on  Boundary  creek, 
part  of  which  is  in  British  Columbia.  A  nugget  worth  $560 
was  found  in  September,  1860,  on  Rock  creek,  which  is  entirely 
in  British  Columbia.  All  the  other  auriferous  branches  of 
Kettle  river  are  in  Washington  territory.  Kettle  river  itself 
is  about  sixty  yards  wide.  Much  mining  will  be  done  on  this 
stream  and  its  -tributaries.  There  is  good  grass  and  rich  soil 
in  the  basin  of  Kettle  river.  Two  hundred  persons  are  now  in 
the  Rock  creek  mines.  The  Similkameen,  which  lies  in  Brit- 
ish Columbia,  but  is  a  tributary  of  the  Columbia  river,  has 
some  of  the  richest  mining  ground  on  the  coast.  Near  Fort 
Colville,  distant  by  the  course  of  the  river  about  800  miles 
from  the  ocean,  miners  have  been  at  work  since  1855.  The 
"  Colville  mines  "  are  on  the  Pend-Oreille  (pronounced  "  pon- 
du-ray  ")  river,  a  large  stream,  which,  after  flowing  hi  a  west- 


THE    MINING   DISTRICTS.  103 

north-west  course,  empties  into  the  Columbia  about  ten  miles 
south  of  latitude  49°.  Its  body  of  water  may  be  approxi- 
mately expressed  by  the  formula  of  eighty  yards  wide,  four 
feet  deep,  and  a  current  of  six  miles  an  hour.  It  gets  very 
low,  however,  in  the  winter.  The  Colville  mines  commence  on 
the  Columbia  river,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Pend-Oreille,  and 
extend  up  the  latter  stream  twenty  miles,  to  a  tributary  called 
Salmon  river,  and  up  Salmon  river  four  or  five  miles.  The 
mining  ground  on  the  Pend-Oreille  is  all  in  a  deep  canon, 
except  at  its  mouth,  where  there  is  a  flat.  The  diggings  are 
on  bars,  and  pay  from  three  to  six  and  eight  dollars  per  day. 
The  best  diggings  have  been  found  on  a  flat  half  a  mile  long 
and  several  hundred  yards  wide,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Pend- 
Oreille,  which  flat  was  once  undoubtedly  a  bed  of  the  river. 
The  bed-rock  has  not  been  reached  at  any  place  in  these  dig- 
gings. The  mines  were  discovered  in  1855,  by  Jo  Morell,  a 
Canadian.  The  bars  of  the  Columbia  are  auriferous  for 
seventy-five  miles  down  from  the  mouth  of  the  Pend-Oreille  to 
the  Spokan  river,  which  flows  from  the  east. 

The  Columbia  river  is  navigated  by  steamboats  from  its 
mouth  to  Walla  Walla,  a  distance  of  360  miles.  The  river  is 
navigable  above  Walla  Walla,  but  there  are  no  vessels  running 
regularly.  Parties  going  to  the  mines  in  the  basin  of  the 
Upper  Columbia  sometimes  begin  their  land  journey  at  Walla 
Walla,  but  more  frequently  at  the  Dalles,  which  is  two  hun- 
dred miles  from  the  ocean.  From  the  Dalles  to  the  Wenatchee 
is  150  miles  ;  to  the  Similkarneen,  250  ;  to  Fort  Colville,  350. 
The  traveler  from  the  Dalles  to  Rock  creek  goes  sixty-five  miles 
to  the  Simcoe  Indian  Reservation,  over  a  fine  wagon  road ; 
thence  to  Atahnam  river,  twenty  miles  ;  to  Mission  creek,  eight 
miles ;  to  the  Nahchess  river,  seven  miles ;  to  the  \yenass 
river,  five  miles ;  to  the  Yakima  river,  eighteen  miles  ;  to  the 
Columbia,  twenty-five  miles ;  up  the  Columbia  to  the  Weu- 
atchee,  ten  miles ;  to  Rock  creek,  seventeen  miles ;  to  Chelan 
lake,  eighteen  miles ;  to  the  Methow,  sixteen  miles  ;  to  Okan- 
agan  lake,  eighteen  miles ;  to  the  mouth  of  the  Similkameen, 
forty-five  miles ;  to  Rock  creek,  twenty  miles.  The  road  is 
good  for  pack  mules  the  whole  distance,  and  grass  is  abundant. 

It  is  reported  that  rich  gold  diggings  have  been  found  in  the 
valley  of  the  Clear  Water  river,  on  the  western  slope  of  the 
Bitter  Root  mountains,  and  in  the  basin  of  the  Columbia  river, 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  south-eastward  from  Fort 


104  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

Colville,  and  the  same  distance  eastward  from  Walla  Walla. 
The  Portland  Times  says  of  these  mines  : 

"  They  are  well  elevated  in  the  mountains,  which  are  densely 
covered  with  pine  timber,  except  in  small  patches  where  cam- 
mas  and  grass  prairies  and  swamps  are  found.  The  climate  is 
colder  than  in  the  valleys  below  ;  but,  nevertheless,  so  mild  as 
not  to  prevent  work  this  winter. 

"  The  mines  are  on  the  Nez  Perces  Reservation,  as  claimed 
by  the  authorities.  The  Nez  Perces  Indians  are  numerous, 
wealthy,  and  skilled  in  war,  and  some  of  them  instructed  in 
the  arts  of  peace.  They  have  always  been  friendly  to  the 
whites,  and  are  free  from  the  little  vices  which  characterize 
many  other  tribes.  They  number  about  4,000  souls,  about 
one-fifth  of  whom  are  warriors.  Their  wealth  consists  chiefly 
in  horses  and  cattle.  The  Government  has  an  agency  among 
them,  and  is  now  instructing  many  of  them  in  the  art  of  agri- 
culture. The  agency  or  head-quarters  of  the  Reserve  is  on  the 
Clear  Water,  near  the  junction  of  the  Lapwa,  and  about  one 
hundred  miles  from  Walla  Walla,  by  the  road  usually  traveled. 

"  The  route  from  Portland  to  these  mines,  is  by  steamboat  to 
the  Cascades  ;  thence  (after  crossing  the  portage)  by  steamboat 
to  the  Dalles ;  thence  by  stage  to  the  Des  Chutes ;  thence 
again  by  steamboat  to  Old  Fort  Walla  Walla  ;  thence  by  stage 
to  the  New  Fort  and  the  town ;  thence  by  wagons  or  pack 
animals  to  the  Red  Wolf  crossing  of  Snake  river ;  thence 
mostly  by  pack  animals  up  the  Snake  river,  and  Clear  Water 
and  its  northern  branch  to  the  mines. 

"  A  good  wagon  road  can  be  built,  at  but  little  expense,  to 
within  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  of  the  place  where  the  miners 
are  now  at  work.  The  grass  and  water  are  good  and  abundant 
to  within  about  forty  miles  of  the  mines ;  thence  the  timber 
is  dense  and  but  little  grass,  save  in  small  openings  on  the 
creek  bottoms.  No  part  of  the  route  is  obstructed  with  rock, 
so  as  to  interfere  with  pack  trains.  It  is  hilly  from  the  cross- 
ing of  the  Snake  river  to  the  forks  of  the  Clear  Water,  and 
through  an  open  pine  timbered  country ;  thence  to  the  mines, 
the  ascent  up  the  fork  of  the  Clear  Water  is  more  rugged  and 
the  timber  more  dense. 


THE    MINING   DISTRICTS.  105 

'  The  following  is  the  table  of  distances  : 

From  Portland  to  the  Cascades 50  miles. 

Cascade  Portage 2  " 

Thence  to  Dalles 38  " 

"    DCS  Chutes  15  " 

"    Old  Fort  Walla  Walla 130  " 

"    New  Walla  Walla  Town  and  Fort 30  '• 

"    Toucha 26  " 

"    Tuchanon 20  " 

"    Red  Wolf  Crossing  of  Snake  River 30  " 

"    Mouth  of  Clear  Water 10 

"    Indian  Agency 15 

"    Forks  of  Clear  Water 30 

"    the  Mines 40 

Total  from  Portland,  Oregon 436  miles." 

Washoe.  \  84.  In  latitude  39°  30'  north,  and  longitude 
119°  45'  west  of  Greenwich,  in  the  basin  of  Carson  river,  and 
very  near  the  eastern  base  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  lies  the 
Washoe  silver  mining  country,  about  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  miles  distant,  in  an  east-north-eastward  direction,  from  San 
Francisco.  The  name  "  Washoe,"  which  in  the  beginning  of 
1859  was  confined  to  a  small  valley  west  of  the  argentiferous 
region,  is  now  given  to  all  the  silver  bearing  country  in  its 
vicinity  ;  a  district  that  may  be  twenty  miles  square,  although 
all  the  rich  lodes  as  yet  opened  are  within  a  circle  whose  radius 
is  not  more  than  four  miles. 

Washoe  is  part  of  Nevada  territory,  and  of  the  great  interior 
basin  which  sends  none  of  its  waters  to  the  sea,  but  swallows 
tip  all  its  rivers  and  brooks  in  its  own  sands.  Among  its 
rivers,  in  the  metalliferous  regions,  are  the  Carson,  Walker  and 
Mono,  each  of  which  has  its  lake  or  sink.  The  land  has  an 
elevation  of  4,500  feet  above  the  sea  in  its  lowest  parts.  Its 
surface  is  broken  and  mountainous ;  its  soil  dry,  sandy  and 
sterile ;  its  vegetation  scanty,  scrubby  and  desert-like?  and  its 
climate  fickle  in  summer  and  severely  cold  in  winter.  Washoe 
is  frequently  spoken  of  as  being  on  the  "  eastern  slope  of  the 
Sierra  Nevada,"  but  the  term  is-  incorrect ;  the  slope  eastward 
being  very  short  as  compared  with  that  on  the  western  side  of 
these  mountains. 

Washoe  is  divided  into  about  a  dozen  mining  districts,  of 
which  the  principal  are  the  Virginia,  Gold  Hill,  Devil's  Gate, 
Flowery,  Argentine  and  Silver  Star. 

The  Virginia  district  includes  Virginia  City  and  the  Corn- 
stock  Lode,  on  which  are  situated  all  the  very  valuable  silver 
claims  in  Washoe.  Virginia  City,  the  most  important  mining 
5 


106  HAND-BOOK   OF    MINING. 

town  in  Nevada,  has  now  a  population  of  about  three  thousand. 
It  is  situated  in  a  little  basin,  nearly  circular  in  shape  and 
about  a  mile  across.  There  are  about  twenty  brick  and  stone 
houses,  the  remainder  are  of  wood.  Immediately  west  of  the 
town  and  almost  within  its  limits,  is  that  part  of  the  Corn- 
stock  Lode  owned  by  the  Ophir  Company.  Running  south- 
ward from  Virginia  City,  is  Gold  Canon,  five  or  six  miles  long, 
the  sides  of  which  are  rich  in  mineral  wealth.  The  Comstock 
Lode  is  found  about  two  hundred  feet  -above  the  level  of  the 
basin  of  Virginia  City,  on  the  eastern  slope  of  a  very  steep, 
bare,  rugged,  rocky  hill,  seven  hundred  feet  high,  forming  one 
side  of  Gold  Canon.  The  Comstock  Lode  is  from  fifteen  to 
thirty  feet  wide,  and  its  ore  is  very  rich  for  a  distance  of  a 
mile.  The  lode,  in  its  rich  portions,  is  owned  by  the  Ophir, 
Mexican,  California,  Central,  Gould  and  Curry,  Chollar,  and 
other  companies.  The  rich  part  of  the  Comstock  lode  is  about 
a  mile  and  a  half  long.  The  vein  stone  is  a  white  quartz,  be- 
tween walls  of  porphyritic  greenstone  and  amygdaloid  trap. 
The  vein  has  a  direction  nearly  north  and  south,  and  a  slight 
dip  to  the  west.  All  the  companies  above  named  as  owning 
rich  claims  on  the  Comstock  lode,  have  sunk  shafts  and  taken 
out  rock  in  considerable  quantities,  and  most  of  them  have 
erected  or  are  erecting  mills. 

A  correspondent  of  the  San  Francisco  Bulletin  wrote  in  the 
midst  of  December,  1860,  thus  of  the  Mexican  claim  : 

"  Work  was  commenced  on  this  mine  by  a  sinking  a  shaft, 
in  size  about  fourteen  by  eight  feet.  This  shaft  was  sunk  on 
the  vein  of  ore,  which  was  struck  some  ten  or  fifteen  feet  from 
the  surface.  The  inclination  of  the  vein  is  sufficient  to  allow 
rude  steps  to  be  cut  on  the  lower  side  of  the  shaft.  The  ore 
and  quartz  is  taken  from  the  mine  up  these  steps  on  the  backs 
of  Mexicans.  The  ore  is  carried  in  a  sort  of  basket  made  of 
raw  hide,  in  shape  like  a  peach  basket,  but  about  a  foot  higher. 
A  strap  attached  to  the  top  of  the  basket  passes  around  the 
laborer's  forehead,  allowing  the  loaded  vessel  to  lie  on  his  back. 
With  this  arrangement,  experienced  Mexicans  take  enormous 
loads  up  places  that  an  inexperienced  person  would  find -diffi- 
cult to  ascend  or  descend  without  any  load. 

"  When  this  shaft  was  clown  some  forty  or  fifty  feet,  drifts 
were  run  north  and  south  of  the  vein,  the  full  extent  of  the 
claim.  From  these  drifts  other  shafts  are  sunk  at  suitable  dis- 
tances apart.  Again,  at  proper  depths,  other  drifts  are  run, 


THE   MINING  DISTRICTS.  107 

etc.  In  this  manner,  at  equal  distances,  pillars  of  ore  are  left 
standing  to  support  the  mine,  thereby  saving,  in  a  great  meas- 
ure, the  necessity  of  timbering.  These  pillars  are  not  like  tim- 
bers, liable  to  rot,  but  render  the  mine  permanently  secure  for 
any  length  of  time.  If  at  any  future  period  there  is  no  further 
use  for  them,  they  can  commence  at  the  bottom  to  take  them 
out,  and  let  the  mine  fall  in. 

"  During  the  past  season  this  company  have  been  erecting  a 
stamping  mill,  with  suitable  works  for  amalgamating  silver. 
The  building  is  ninety  feet  long,  and  forty  feet  wide.  It  is  sit- 
uated a  few  hundred  yards  east  of  the  mine,  in  the  outskirts  of 
Virginia  City.  For  crushing,  there  are  four  batteries — in  all, 
sixteen  stamps,  set  in  a  line,  and  lifted  by  cams  on  one  shaft. 
The  ore  is  crushed  dry.  It  falls  from  the  batteries  through  fine 
wire-cloth  to  conveyors  ;  they  take  it  to  elevators,  which  deposit 
it  in  the  upper  story  of  the  building.  For  amalgamating, 
twenty  German  barrels  are  arranged.  These  barrels  are  capa- 
ble of  working  ten  tons  in  twenty-four  hours." 

The  Virginia  district  is  strictly  a  silver  mining  district,  for 
although  gold  is  found  there,  yet  it  is  found  only  among  silver 
ore,  the  great  value  of  which  is  in  the  silver. 

Southward  lies  the  Gold  Hill  district,  the  chief  town  of 
which,  named  Gold  Hill,  is  only  one  mile  distant  from  Virginia 
City.  The  wealth  of  this  district  is  chiefly  in  gold  quartz, 
found  along  the  sides  of  Gold  Canon,  which  runs  southward 
from  the  basin  of  Virginia  City.  The  bottom  of  this  canon 
was  once  very  rich  in  placer  gold,  and  the  auriferous  quartz 
here  is  very  abundant  and  rich.  Indeed  it  has  been  asserted 
that  the  vicinity  of  this  place  is  richer  in  gold-bearing  quartz 
than  any  district  of  equal  extent  in  California.  The.town  of 
Gold  Hill  is  in  the  canon,  and  has  a  population  of  about  five 
hundred. 

Three  miles  south  of  Gold  Hill,  and  also  in  the  canon,  is 
Silver  City,  which  has  a  population  of  five  hundred.  This 
place  is  in  the  Devil's  Gate  district.  The  claims  are  mostly 
gold  claims.  The  three  towns  are  only  four  miles  apart,  and 
will  in  time  become  almost  one  continuous  town,  strung  along 
a  narrow,  rugged,  steep  canon. 

There  are  three  stamping  mills  at  Virginia  City ;  one  owned 
by  the  Mexican  Company,  another  by  the  Central,  and  a  third 
by  the  Gould  and  Curry.  The  Ophir  Company  have  no  mill 
at  their  mine ;  but  they  are  erecting  very  extensive  works  in 


108  HAND-BOOK   OP   MINING. 

Washoe  Valley,  twelve  miles  distant,  to  which  place  they  have 
cut  a  fine  road.  It  is  said  that  the  ore  already  taken  out  of 
the  Ophir  claim  and  ready  to  be  put  through  the  mill,  is  worth 
$1,500,000, 

At  Gold  Hill  there  are  two  mills ;  one  owned  by  Harris  and 
Conover ;  the  other,  owned  by  a  company,  is  called  "  Paul's 
Big  Mill."  It  is  named  after  Almarin  B.  Paul,  Esq.,  who 
erected  it  and  is  its  superintendent.  The  Territorial  Enter- 
prise  newspaper,  published  in  Carson  City,  thus  described  the 
mill,  in  November,  I860  : 

"  The  ground  on  which  the  mill  is  situated  is  five  hundred 
feet  front  by  three  hundred  in  width,  all  used  for  mill,  furnaces, 
buildings,  stables,  etc.  The  size  of  the  mill  is,  one  hundred 
and  ten  feet  long,  by  seventy-five  feet  in  width  ;  eighteen  feet 
high,  to  the  eaves ;  and  contains  one  hundred  thousand  feet  of 
lumber.  Every  department  in  the  building  is  independent  of 
each  other.  To  better  judge  of  its  size,  we  will  give  each  de- 
partment separate  :  Battery  building,  twenty-five  by  seventy- 
five  feet ;  quartz  room,  twenty  by  seventy-five  ;  amalgamating 
room,  forty  by  fifty ;  clearing-up  room,  fifteen  by  twenty ; 
melting  room,  fifteen  by  fifteen  ;  assaying  room,  fifteen  by 
fifteen.  The  mill  contains  eight  of  Rowland's  rotary  batteries, 
eight  stamps  each,  in  all  sixty-four.  When  all  in,  it  will  con- 
tain forty-eight  amalgamating  pans,  Knox's  patent.  The  en- 
gine is  of  sixty  horse  power. 

"  The  material  is  taken  from  the  batteries  for  amalgamation, 
by  cars  and  railways.  The  metal  will  be  turned  out  only  in 
bars.  The  necessary  machinery  requisite  for  cleansing,  sepa- 
rating and  retorting  the  metals,  contain  one  hundred  and 
twenty  tons  of  iron,  brought  over  the  Sierra  Nevada  at  an 
expense  of  eight,  ten,  twelve  and  sixteen  cents  per  pound. 

"  The  expense  of  such  mammoth  operations  nere;  may  be  in- 
ferred from  the  fact  that  the  company  have  expended  between 
$25,000  and  $30,000  for  freight  alone.  Employment  has 
been  given  to  about  fifty  men  per  day,  At  one  time,  one 
hundred  men  were  engaged,  clay  and  night,  on  the  machinery. 
The  expenditure  of  this  company,  with  everything  complete  as 
designed,  furnaces,  etc.,  will  be  about  $200,000." 

At  Silver  City  there  are  nine  mills,  and  on  the  Carson  river, 
also  within  the  limits  of  the  Devil's  Gate  district,  there  are 
four  mills. 

The  Flowery  is  east  of  the  Virginia  district,  and  contains 


THE    MINING   DISTRICTS.  109 

some  rich  gold  leads,  among  which  the  Lady  Bryan  and  Rogers 
are  prominent. 

South  of  the  Flowery  is  the  Silver  Star  district ;  and  west  of 
the  Virginia  is  the  Argentine  district,  in  neither  of  which  have 
any  very  rich  lodes  been  discovered  as  yet. 

Virginia  City,  Gold  Hill  and  Silver  City  are  the  only 
mining  towns  of  note  in  Washoe.  Carson  City,  sixteen  miles 
southward  from  Virginia  City,  is  a  place  of  fifteen  hundred 
inhabitants,  and  is  the  principal  trading  town  out  of  the  imme- 
diate vicinity  of  the  mines. 

The  following  figures  give  the  distances  from  Sacramento  to 
Virginia  City : 

Sacramento  to  Placervllle. 45  miles. 

Placerville  to  Junction 15£    " 

Junction  to  Brockliss  Bridge 2j  • 

Brockliss  Bridge  to  Strawberry  Valley 26 

Strawberry  Valley  to  Slippery  Ford 1 

Slippery  Ford  to  Johnson  s  Pass 7 

Johnson's  Pass  to  Lake  Valley 2 

Lake  Valley  to  Luther's  Pass 4 

Luther's  Pass  to  Hope  Valley 2 

HopeValleyto  Woodford's 5 

Woodford's  to  Genoa 20 

Genoa  to  Carson  City 14 

Cnrson  City  to  Virginia  City 18 

Total 162  miles, 

Esmeralda.  §  85.  Esmeralda  lies  about  one  hundred 
miles  south-south-eastward  from  Carson  City,  and  fifteen  miles 
northward  from  the  eastern  point  of  Mono  Lake,  in  the  basin 
of  Walker  river.  There  is  a  good  natural  road  for  wagons, 
through  valleys  and  over  low  passes,  from  Carson  Valley  to 
the  entrance  of  the  Esmeralda  mountains,  and  thence  the  road 
is  rough  for  a  distance  of  ten  miles.  There  is  a  toll  road  from 
Walker  river  to  Esmeralda,  and  a  free  road  from  Moaoville  to 
Esmeralda.  The  Esmeralda  mountains  consist  of  broken  ridges 
of  eruptive  rocks,  chiefly  trap  and  basalt,  covered  in  many 
places  with  volcanic  scoriae.  The  general  course  of  these  ridges 
is  north  and  south.  Bunch  grass  is  abundant ;  and  there  are 
extensive  forests  of  scrub  pine,  pitch  pine  and  nut  pine,  (pinon) 
all  good  for  fire-wood,  but  not  valuable  for  building.  Very- 
good  water,  sufficient  for  domestic  purposes  and  for  the  use  of 
steam  mills,  is  found  near  the  mines. 

The  rich  district  is  supposed  to  be  within  a  circle  five  miles 
in  diameter.  The  elevation  of  the  place  is  about  five  thousand 
feet  above  the  sea. 


110  HAND-BOOK   OP  MINING. 

The  main  lode,  called  the  Esmeralda,  runs  north  and  south, 
with  a  width  of  from  thirty  to  sixty  feet  of  quartz  running 
through  porphyritic  greenstone.  The  lode  dips  slightly  to  the 
west,  and  in  some  places,  projects  fifteen  or  twenty  feet,  like  a 
high  wall,  above  the  adjacent  land.  The  ore  is  a  vitreous  sul- 
phuret  of  silver,  with  very  little  gold.  Most  of  the  other  leads 
in  the  vicinity  run  east  and  west,  or,  at  least,,  vary  considerably 
from  the  north  and  south  direction  of  the  Esmeralda  lode. 
These  other  leads  are  many  of  them  rich  in  gold. 

The  town  of  Esmeraida  lies  at  the  base  of  the  hill,  on  the 
side  of  which  the  claim  of  the  same  name  lies.  Two  miles 
further  north,  upon  a  better  place  for  a  town  site,  is  the  town 
of  Aurora,  which  now  boasts  one  hundred  cabins  and  tents. 

The  trade  of  Esmeralda  will  probably  be  done  with  Placer- 
ville,  to  which  place  the  distance  is  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles.  Communication  may  be  had  with  Stockton,  by  the 
Big  Tree  route,  a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  forty  miles  ;  and 
with  Coulterville,  by  the  way  of  Mono  and  Yosemite,  a  dis- 
tance of  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles. 

Coso,  etc.  \  86.  The  Coso  silver  mines  lie  about  one 
hundred  and  twenty  miles  eastward  from  Yisalia,  in  the  great 
basin  of  Utah.  It  is  a  barren  district,  where  wood  and  water 
are  scarce.  Rich  specimens  of  sulphuret  of  silver,  and  argen- 
tiferous copper  ore,  have  been  shown  in  San  Francisco,  said  to 
have  come  from  that  place.  There  are  few  miners  residing 
there  as  yet,  and  our  information  about  the  district  is  not 
exact  or  full. 

It  is  reported  that  rich  leads  of  silver  ore  have  been  found 
near  the  Mountain  Meadows,  in  the  western  part  of  New 
Mexico,  and  also  at  Silver  mountain,  in  the  same  Territory  ; 
but  these  are  rumors,  in  which  little  trust  can  be  placed.  The 
Silver  Mountain  is  said  to  be  twenty  miles  south-westward  of 
Las  Yegas,  on  the  road  from  San  Bernardino  to  Salt  Lake, 
and  its  ore  to  be  rich  argentiferous  galena. 

Arizona.  \  87.  Arizona  is  a  district  about  fifty  miles 
wide,  from  north  to  south,  and  six  hundred  long,  from  cast  to 
west,  lying  south  of  the  river  Gila,  between  the"  thirty -first  and 
thirty-third  degrees  of  north  latitude.  It  is  a  sterile  country, 
made  up,  chiefly,  of  barren  sands  and  bare  rocks.  It  is  rich 
in  gold,  silver  and  copper.  Its  gold  is  found  in  places  which 


THE    MINING   DISTRICTS.  Ill 

cannot  be  worked  for  want  of  water.  Its  silver  mines  were 
discovered  about  the  beginning  of  the  last  century,  at  which 
time  there  was  a  considerable  Spanish  population  in  the  coun- 
try. It  is  said  that  at  one  time  a  hundred  silver  mines  were 
worked  ;  but  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  the  hostili- 
ties of  the  Indians  disturbed  the  labor  of  the  miners,  and  in 
1820  nearly  all  the  Spaniards  had  left  the  country,  and  the 
business  of  mining  had  come  to  an  end. 

The  most  important  mine  of  Arizona,  is  that  of  the  Sonora 
Exploring  and  Mining  Company.  The  mine,  called,  usually, 
"  The  Heintzelman  Mine,"  from  the  President  of  the  company, 
lies  in  the  Cerro  Colorado,  thirty  miles  from  Tubac.  The  ore 
is  an  argentiferous  galena,  which,  in  picked  specimens,  pro- 
duces more  than  $2,000  per  ton.  It  is  said  that  $230,000 
have  been  spent  in  working  the  mine,  much  of  that  sum  having 
been  produced  by  the  mine  itself.  The  mine  was  opened  about 
1853. 

The  Cahuabi  mine,  situated  near  the  intersection  of  the 
hundred  and  twelfth  meridian  writh  the  thirty-second  degree  of 
latitude,  in  the  country  of  the  Papazo  Indians,  produces  a 
rich  argentiferous  copper  ore.  The  mine  was  opened  in  1859. 

The  Mowry  mine,  in  the  sierra  of  Santa  Cruz,  fourteen 
miles  from  the  town  of  Santa  Cruz,  and  5,160  feet  above  the 
sea,  has  a  rich  argentiferous  galena. 

The  Santa  Rita  mine  lies  in  the  sierra  of  Santa  Rita, 
twelve  miles  east  of  -  Tubac.  The  ore  is  an  argentiferous 
galena. 

The  San  Pedro  mine,  east  of  the  San  Pedro  river,  pro- 
duces argentiferous  copper.  The  above  are  the  chief  mines  in 
Arizona  now  wrought. 

The  Ajo  copper  mine,  called,  also  the  Arizona  nfine,  one 
hundred  and  twenty  miles  south-east  from  Fort  Yuma,  is 
extremely  rich.  Its  ores  are  oxides  and  sulphurets.  The 
working  of  this  mine  proved  unprofitable,  and  has  been  stopped. 

Quicksilver  Districts.  §  88.  California  has  some 
of  the  richest  quicksilver  mines  in  the  world.  The  main 
quicksilver  district  lies  in  Santa  Clara  county,  about  sixty 
miles  southward  from  San  Francisco,  and  twelve  miles  south- 
westward  from  San  Jose,  in  the  coast  mountains.  There  are 
three  mines  here ;  the  New  Almaden,  which  derives  its  name 
from  the  quicksilver  mine  of  Almaden,  in  Spain ;  the  En- 


112  HAND-BOOK   OF  MINING. 

riqueta,  so  styled  in  honor  of  Enriqueta  Laurencel,  little 
daughter  of  one  of  the  proprietors  of  the  mine  at  the  time  of 
the  discovery ;  and  the  Guadalupe,  a  name  suggested  by  the 
little  river  that  drains  the  district.  These  three  mines  are  all 
found  within  a  distance  of  four  miles,-  in  one  range  of  hills, 
nearly  in  a  straight  line  with  each  other.  The  only  one  from 
which  mercury  is  obtained,  is  a  sulphuret  or  cinnabar,  a  red, 
heavy  mineral,  found,  not  in  veins  of  regular  width,  but  in 
large  irregular  masses,  connected  by  small  seams.  The  mines 
of  Santa  Clara  county  are  at  the  junction  of  metamorphic 
limestone  rock  on  one  side,  and  eruptive  rocks,  chiefly  trap,  on 
the  other.  It  has  been  frequently  observed,  that,  at  such 
points  of  junction,  metallic  ores  are  more  abundant  and  rich 
than  elsewhere. 

"  The  mountain  mass,"  says  W.  P.  Blake,  "  in  which  the 
(New  Almaden)  mine  lies,  is  of  serpentine,  with  chloritic  and 
talcose  slates.  Seams  of  limestone,  intercalated  in  threads 
and  masses  of  metamorphic  limestone  twelve  feet  thick,  occur 
on  the  ascent  before  the  serpentine  is  reached.  The  limestone 
is  whitish,  semi-crystalline,  and  without  fossils.  The  trend  is 
north-west  and  south-east,  which  is  also  the  direction  of  the 
metalliferous  veins.  The  dip  is  variable,  but  always  to  the 
east.  Talc  slate  is  the  most  abundant  rock  ;  but  the  serpen- 
tine and  trap  are  associated  with  it  in  the  mine.  The  gangue 
stone  associated  with  the  cinnabar  is%  quartz  forming  geodic 
cavities.  Sulphate  of  barytes  occurs  crystalized  in  some 
seams.  The  sulphuret  of  mercury  is  found  in  masses,  towards 
which  the  vein  lead." 

The  New  Idria  mine  is  in  the  coast  mountains,  about  sixty 
miles  south-eastward  from  San  Jose. 

Cinnabar  is  found  on  the  sides  of  Mount  St.  Helena,  in 
Napa  county,  and  in  the  Geyser  mountains,  in  Sonoma  county. 
Several  companies  have  commenced  to  open  the  veins  in  those 
districts  ;  but  it  is  not  known  yet  whether  the  deposits  will 
prove  to  have  any  value.  One  of  the  Napa  companies  has 
sent  fifty  pounds  of  metal  to  the  market.  A  singular  feature 
of  the  Napa  and  Sonoma  cinnabar  is,  that  the  veins  have 
much  porous  limestone  rock,  containing,  in  its  interstices, 
liquid  quicksilver,  which  flies  out  in  minute  globules  whenever 
the  rock  is  shaken  violently. 

Quicksilver  mining  is  very  uncertain,  and  requires  a  large 
capital.  The  irregularity  of  the  deposits  renders  it  impossible 


THE    MINING   DISTRICTS.  113 

to  know  whether  the  mine  contains  much  ore,  or  at  what  cost 
it  can  be  taken  out.  Expensive  furnaces  must  be  built  before 
the  metal  can  be  obtained  from  the  ore.  Many  laborers  must 
be  employed  in  opening  the  mine  and  preparing  for  subsequent 
work. 

The  New  Almaden  mine  has  produced  3,000  flasks,  seventy- 
five  pounds  in  a  flask,  in  a  month ;  but  2,500  flasks  may  be 
set  down  as  its  present  monthly  yield.  The  Enriqueta  mine 
has  produced  1,000  flasks ;  but  the  average  is  much  less. 
During  the  last  quarter  of  1860,  the  yield  was  about  2,400 
flasks.  The  New  Idria  mine  furnishes  from  three  hundred  to 
five  hundred  flasks  per  month,  and  the  Guadalupe  mine  from 
one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred  and  fifty. 

The  ore  of  the  New  Almaden  and  Enriqueta  mine  contains 
about  eighteen  per  cent,  of  metal ;  that  of  New  Idria,  about 
eight  per  cent. 

New  Almaden  is  supposed  to  be — next  to  the  Spanish 
Almaden — the  most  valuable  quicksilver  mine  in  the  world, 
and  perhaps  it  is  even  superior  to  that.  The  mine  is  at  an 
elevation  of  1,000  feet  above  the  sea,  and  two  hundred  feet 
below  the  top  of  the  hill.  Several  hundred  miners  are 
employed,  about  half  Cornishmen  and  half  Mexicans,  who  are 
engaged  in  hunting  the  ore  and  taking  it  out.  The  deposits 
of  ore  have  to  be  hunted  ;  and  the  miners  seek  them  by  follow- 
ing up  the  little  seams.  Sometimes  these  masses  are  found 
fifty  feet  long,  twenty  wide  and  twenty  high.  The  ore  is 
hoisted  to  the  surface  by  machinery,  and  then  is  hauled  down 
to  the  Hacienda  or  Reducing  Works,  where  there  are  fourteen 
furnaces  of  brick.  Each  furnace  may  be  fifty  feet  long,  twelve 
feet  high  and  twelve  wide.  In  front  is  the  fire-place ;  next 
that,  is  a  chamber  for  the  ore,  about  ten  feet  cubic,  wfth  open 
walls  on  each  side,  so  that  the  heat  may  enter  from  the  fire, 
and  pass  into  the  condensing  chamber  behind,  in  which  there 
are  partitions,  so  that  the  smoke  from  the  fire  and  vapor  from 
the  ore  must  pass  up  and  down,  alternately,  half  a  dozen  times, 
and  finally  it  rises  out  of  a  chimney  forty  feet  high.  The  ore 
is  placed  in  the  ore-chamber,  in  large  pieces,  and  with  open 
spaces  between,  so  that  the  flames  and  smoke  from  the  fire  may 
pass  through  it.  The  earthy  matter  near  the  large  deposits  of 
cinnabar  contains  a  good  deal  of  metal,  and  is  made  into 
brick,  so  that  they  can  be  piled  up,  also,  with  open  spaces 
for  the  fire  to  pass  through.  In  the  bottom  of  the  condensing 


114  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

chamber  is  water,  by  which  the  fumes  of  the  quicksilver  are 
cooled  and  condensed.  The  sulphur  of  the  cinnabar  and  the 
smoke  of  the  fire  escape  through  the  chimney. 

In  the  Enriqueta  and  Gundalupe  mines,  the  quicksilver  is 
collected  in  close  iron  retorts,  which  contain  quicklime  to 
absorb  the  sulphur. 

The  value  of  the  New  Almaden  mine  has  been  estimated 
very  extravagantly,  by  the  Attorney  General  of  the  United 
States,  at  $25,000,000 ;  its  real  value  is  not  more  than  one 
fifth  that  sum. 

The  quicksilver  is  put  into  wrought  iron  flasks,  made  of 
heavy  sheet  iron,  about  a  foot  long  and  five  inches  in  diameter, 
with  an  iron  screw  for  a  cork  at  one  end.  Each  flask  holds 
seventy-five  pounds  of  metal. 

The  New  Almaden  Company  is  now  engaged  in  building 
a  new  and  very  large  furnace,  and  in  cutting  a  tunnel  eight 
hundred  feet  below  the  present  entrance  of  the  mine.  These 
improvements  will  enable  them  to  increase  their  production 
considerably. 


CHAPTER     VI. 

PROSPECTING. 


Prospecting  a  River  Bar.  §  89.  The  prospector  for 
gold  should  be  familiar  with  the  general  principles  of  the  dis- 
tribution of  gold,  as  explained  in  Chapter  iv.  Rich  gold  dig- 
gings are  found  only  in  districts  where  granite,  quartz  and  slate 
exist  together ;  but  they  may  sometimes  not  appear  on  the 
surface  of  the  ground,  or  even  in  the  beds  of  the  streams.  If, 
however,  a  thorough  geological  examination  proves  that  none 
of  them  approach  the  surface  within  fifteen  or  twenty  miles, 
then  it  is  useless  to  search  for  paying  placers.  All  the  rich 
auriferous  districts  are  hilly  or  mountainous  ;  have  reddish 
earth,  with  numerous  quartz  pebbles  and  pieces  of  slate  among 
the  gravel. 

The  main  implement  used  in  prospecting  is  a  pan  made  of 
stiff  tin  or  sheet  iron,  with  a  flat  bottom  from  ten  to  fourteen 
inches  across,  and  sides  from  four  to  six  inches  high,  rising  at 
an  angle  varying  from  thirty  to  sixty  degrees. 

The  prospector  having  found  the  district  supposed  to  be 
auriferous,  should  go,  in  a  season  of  low  water,  to  so*me  large 
stream  where  it  emerges  from  a  deep  gorge,  not  far  below 
which  he  will  find  a  bar — a  collection  of  sand.  If  the  stream 
makes  a  turn  on  emerging  from  the  gorge,  there  will  be  at  high 
water  an  eddy  on  the  side  toward  which  it  turns,  and  in  that 
eddy  the  auriferous  sand,  if  any,  will  be  deposited.  The  pros- 
pector should  go  with  shovel,  pick,  pan  and  knife,  or  spoon,  to 
this  bar,  where  he  should  dig  down  in  a  place  where  the  sand 
is  at  least  two  feet  deep,  and  as  near  to  the  water's  edge  as  he 
can  go,  without  having  any  water  in  his  hole  when  he  gets  to 
the  bed-rock.  From  the  bottom  he  should  fill  his  pan  with 
dirt,  taking  care  to  scrape  the  dirt  from  the  rock,  and  especially 


116  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 


to  clean  any  crevices  that  may  be  in  the  rock.  When  his  pan 
is  nearly  full  of  dirt,  he  should  take  it  to  the  water's  edge,  put 
it  under  the  water,  and  then  put  his  hand  down  into  the  dirt 


on  all  sides  and  raise  it  up,  so  as  to  have  the  water  pervade  the 
whole  mass.  If  there  be  any  pieces  of  clay,  he  should  break 
them  up  and  rub  them  in  his  hands  until  they  are  completely 
dissolved.  Then  taking  hold  of  the  pan  on  each  side,  keeping 
it  under  water,  with  the  edge  near  him  a  little  higher  than  the 
outer  edge,  he  commences  shaking  the  pan  from  side  to  side. 
The  thick  muddy  water  flows  out,  and  its  place  is  supplied  by 
other  water  which  finally  carries  away  all  the  mud  ;  but  before 
the  muddy  water  is  gone,  the  light  sand  comes  to  the  top,  and 
flows  out  over  the  outer  edge  of  the  pan,  which  gradually  gets 
a  higher  inclination  and  is  raised  out  of  the  water,  until  at 
length  only  a  few  stones  are  left.  The  largest  of  these  are 
scratched  out  with  the  fingers,  and  the  shaking  commences 
again,  and  presently  all  the  earthy  and  stony  particles  are  gone, 
and  then  the  prospector  may  look  for  particles  of  gold.  If  he 
can  find  none  on  such  a  bar,  he  can  say  pretty  safely  that  there 
is  no  gold  in  the  basin  of  that  river  above  the  place  where  he 
has  prospected.  If  the  prospector  have  no  one  to  show  him 
how  to  use  the  pan,  it  might  be  well  for  him  to  practice  before- 
hand, putting  some  rough  little  pieces  of  lead  —  not  round  shot, 
for  they  would  roll  out  too  easily  —  into  the  pan  with  some  dirt, 
and  when  he  can  "  pan  out,"  so  as  to  get  rid  of  all  the  dirt  and 
save  every  piece  of  lead,  he  will  have  skill  enough  for  ordinary 
purposes.  Men  practiced  in  the  use  of  the  pan,  sometimes  give 
it  a  circular  motion,  so  that  the  dirt  runs  round  and  round  in 
it,  thus  dissolving  the  clay  and  throwing  out  the  light  material 
more  rapidly  than  by  a  simple  shaking  from  side  to  side.  It 
is  not  difficult  to  learn  both  methods  of  "  panning."  The  pan 
should  be  free  from  grease,  the  presence  of  which  interferes 
greatly  with  all  the  processes  for  separating  •  gold  from  earthy 
matter. 

The  gold  is  generally  found  imbedded  in  a  stiff  clay,  mixed 
with  gravel  and  stones.  The  object  of  the  prospector  is  to  dis- 
solve the  clay  thoroughly  and  set  the  gold  free,  make  a  current 
of  water  to  carry  away  the  dissolved  clay,  and  then  to  separate 
the  metal  from  the  stone  by  an  agitation  sufficient  to  throw  out 
the  lighter  material,  but  not  sufficient  to  throw  out  the  gold. 
In  panning,  as  in  all  methods  of  placer  mining,  the  miner  sep- 
arates the  gold  from  the  dirt  and  stones  chiefly  by  making  use 
of  the  superior  specific  gravity  of  the  metal. 


PROSPECTING.  117 

Prospecting  in  a  Ravine.  §  90.  If  the  dirt  in  the 
bar  should  prove  rich,  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  there  are  rich 
ravines  not  far  distant.  If  the  gold  be  very  coarse,  it  may 
have  come,  not  down  the  river,  but  from  a  ravine  emptying 
into  the  river  there.  If  the  gold  be  fine,  it  probably  came 
from  ravines  emptying  into  the  river  some  distance  above. 

The  best  time  to  prospect  gullies  is  during  a  rain  or  soon 
after  it,  when  streams  of  water  are  found  even  in  short  chan- 
nels. The  prospector  should  find  a  place  where  a  vein  of  slate, 
with  strata  nearly  upright,  crosses  the  gully.  If  such  a  vein 
can  be  discovered  at  a  spot  nearly  level,  but  just  below  a  steep 
part  of  the  gully,  so  much  the  better,  for  the  gold  does  not  like 
to  stop  in  precipitous  places.  The  prospector  now  fills  his  pan 
with  dirt  from  the  bed-rock  at  the  centre  of  the  ravine,  dig- 
ging up  some  of  the  slate,  if  it  be  loose,  and  putting  that  into 
his  pan  too.  He  then  makes  a  little  dam  in  the  ravine,  and 
pans  out  in  the  standing  water.  I  have  said  that  the  pros- 
pector should  seek  a  vein  of  slate,  with  strata  nearly  upright, 
crossing  the  gully.  If  the  strata  be  horizontal,  they  will  pre- 
sent a  smooth  surface  to  the  gold,  which  will  slip  over  and  go 
to  some  place  below ;  whereas,  if  the  strata  be  upright,  the 
bed  of  the  gully  will  be  rough  and  full  of  crevices,  in  which 
the  gold,  when  once  lodged,  will  be  safe  against  the  fury  of  any 
current.  Auriferous  ravines  and  gullies  differ  greatly  in  wealth 
even  though  very  near  each  other ;  and  different  parts  of  the 
same  ravine  differ  also.  The  thorough  examination  of  a  large 
district  of  ravines,  therefore,  requires  much  labor.  The  reason 
why  I  recommend  prospecting  in  ravines  immediately  after  a 
rain  is,  because  every  little  gully  then  has  water  for  washing, 
and  also  because  the  dirt  is  easy  to  dig,  and  beiug.filled  with 
water  is  so  much  more  easily  washed. 

Prospecting  with  a  Knife.  §  91.  It  might  occur, 
however,  that  a  person  would  wish  to  prospect  in  a  very  dry 
season,  in  a  place  without  water  for  washing.  In  such  case  he 
should  select  a  spot  in  a  gully  by  the  rules  indicated  in  the  last 
paragraph,  dig  away  the  earth  to  very  near  the  rock,  and  then 
get  down  into  the  hole  and  scratch  the  earth  over  carefully 
with  the  point  of  a  knife,  picking  out  the  particles  of  gold  and 
throwing  away  everything  else.  He  should  be  very  particular 
to  scrape  out  cleanly  all  the  crevices  in  the  rock,  and  if  the 
.  rock  be  slate,  he  should  dig  up  some  of  it  slowly  and  carefully, 


118  HAND-BOOK   OF    MINING. 

examining  all  the  seams  for  gold,  which  enters  such  places  in  a 
manner  often  very  puzzling  to  the  miner.  In  rich  diggings, 
men  not  only  prospect  in  this  method,  but  work  regularly  at 
mining. 

Prospecting  a  Plat.  §  92.  To  prospect  a  flat,  the 
miner  should  seek  for  signs  of  the  place  where  the  water  ran 
before  the  earth  was  deposited ;  for  every  flat  has  a  deposit  of 
earth  upon  it,  usually  not  less  than  six  feet  deep  and  sometimes 
as  deep  as  a  hundred  feet.  It  frequently  happens  that  the 
course  of  a  brook  on  the  surface  of  the  flat  indicates  the  posi- 
tion of  an  ancient  brook  lower  down.  The  miner  then  should 
start  in  the  bed  of  the  surface  brook  and  dig  a  hole  or  shaft  to 
the  bed-rock  and  try  the  dirt  there.  Nobody  should  undertake 
to  prospect  for  deep  diggings,  whether  in  flats  or  hills,  save  in 
a  district  known  to  be  auriferous.  If  gold  cannot  be  found 
near  the  surface,  there  will  be  little  encouragement  for  going 
deep.  It  is  difficult  to  lay  down  rules  in  regard  to  prospecting 
for  deep  diggings.  In  many  cases  in  California  they  have  been 
discovered  by  accident.  It  has  also  freqently  happened  that 
miners  at  work  in  a  little  gully  running  from  a  flat  or  hill-side, 
have  followed  up  a  rich  lead  of  placer  gold  until  it  took  them 
into  a  class  of  diggings  entirely  different  from  that  in  which 
they  started. 

In  an  auriferous  district  where  there  are  high  hills  of  gravel, 
the  miner  should  keep  his  eyes  on  them.  Such  hills  often  con- 
tain great  deposits  of  golden  wealth.  The  best  places  to  ex- 
amine these  hills  are  where  streams  have  cut  down  through 
them,  exposing  steep  banks  on  each  side.  If  distinct  layers  of 
clay  and  gravel  be  visible  in  the  bluff,  the  prospector  should 
try  them  all  in  his  pan. 

Prospecting  for  Quartz.  J  93.  Prospecting  for 
quartz  is  entirely  different  from  prospecting  for  placer  diggings. 
Most  of  the  auriferous  quartz  is  found  in  veins  running  north- 
north-west  and  south-south-east,  at  an  elevation  from  two  to 
six  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  'the  sea.  The  prospector 
for  quartz  looks  at  every  vein  where  it  crops  out  on  the  side  of 
a  hill  or  in  the  bank  of  a  stream,  and  if  he  cannot  see  any  par- 
ticles of  gold,  he  usually  infers  that  the  rock  is  not  auriferous. 
Rich  quartz  veins  are  often  found  by  accident.  In  Tuolumue 
county,  in  October,  1858,  a  miner  shot  a  grizzly  bear  on  the 


PROSPECTING.  119 

side  of  a  high  and  steep  hill.  The  animal  rolled  down  the  hill 
until  it  came  to  a  projecting  rock,  upon  which  it  lodged.  The 
miner  went  down  to  his  game,  and  as  he  was  skinning  it^he 
saw  gold  in  the  rock,  which  proved,  on  examiftation,  to  be  very 
rich.  In  May,  1855,  a  Mexican  highwayman  attacked  a 
miner  near  Coulterville,  Mariposa  county,  and  after  firing  sev- 
eral shots  on  each  side,  the  assailant  was  killed.  The  fight 
occurred  in  a  ravine,  and  just  after  firing  a  shot  which  missed 
its  aim,  the  miner  saw  a  glitter  of  reflected  sunlight  from  a 
rock  where  his  ball  struck.  So  soon  as  the  highwayman  was 
dead,  he  went  to  the  spot  struck  by  his  ball,  and  there  found  a 
rich  vein  of  gold-bearing  quartz.  The  Allison  vein,  in  Nevada 
county,  reported  to  be  the  richest  quartz  mine  in  the  State, 
was  found  by  tracing  up  a  rich  lead  of  placer  gold  to  the 
quartz  from  which  it  had  come. 

Mr.  J.  E.  Clayton,  a  mining  engineer,  gave,  through  the  col- 
umns of  the  Mariposa  Gazette,  the  following  advice  to  pros- 
pectors for  auriferous  quartz  : 

"  The  first  step  to  be  taken,  is  to  ascertain  the  direction  of 
the  strata  of  the  bed-rock  and  quartz  veins  imbedded  therein. 
Then  take  a  common  pick,  shovel,  and  good  iron  pan,  and 
prospect  the  surface  dirt  along,  and  just  under  the  break  of 
the  veins  every  few  yards,  thus  following  the  vein  as  far  as  it 
shows  itself,  either  by  its  outcrop  or  loose  fragments ;  and  if 
gold  is  found  in  the  surface  along  the  vein,  it  is  good  presump- 
tive evidence  that  the  vein  is  gold-bearing.  Then  ascertain  the 
point  on  the  vein  that  gives  the  best  *  prospect,'  and  make  a 
cut  across  it  deep  enough  to  show  the  vein  as  it  is  inclosed  in 
the  bed  or  wall  rock ;  then  make  a  careful  examination  of 
every  part  of  the  vein,  so  as  to  determine  what  past  of  it  is 
gold-bearing.  The  casing  of  the  vein  where  it  joins  the  wall 
rock  should  be  carefully  tested  also  ;  it  frequently  occurs  that 
the  casing  is  richer  than  the  vein  itself.  The  best  mode  of 
testing  the  rock  is  to  pound  it  up  finely  in  a  hand  mortar,  and 
wash  it  out  in  a  pan  or  horn  spoon.  If  a  satisfactory  result 
is  obtained,  then  sink  a  shaft  so  as  to  cut  the  vein  at  the  point 
where  the  best  prospect  is  obtained,  and  follow  it  down,  say 
forty  or  fifty  feet.  The  character  of  the  '  wall  rock  '  should  be 
closely  observed,  to  ascertain  the  '  line  of  its  texture.'  The 
smooth  faces  that  separate  the  vein  from  the  wall  rock  should 
be  carefully  examined  ;  the  smooth  faces  have  numerous  small 
.ridges  and  grooves  upon  them,  that  show  the  '  line  of  its  pro- 


120  HAND-BOOK   OP  MINING. 

jection/  or  the  direction  from  which  the  vein  was  forced  up 
between  the  walls  inclosing  it.  The  ridges  and  fine  grooves  on 
the  faces  of  the  veins  will,  in  most  cases,  be  found  to  have  the 
same  direction  of  the  texture  of  the  wall  rock ;  and  the  rich 
section  of  the  vein  will'most  generally  continue  rich  in  the 
*  line  of  its  projection.'  It  is  frequently  the  case  that  a  vein 
will  have  a  section  of  a  few  feet  that  will  be  rich,  and  all  the 
balance  of  it  be  poor ;  therefore,  it  is  very  important  to  learn 
the  '  line  of  its  projection/  for  the  rich  sections  always  follow 
the  course  indicated  by  the  '  line  of  projection  '  and  the  '  line 
of  texture '  of  the  wall  rock," 


CHAPTEK    VII. 

ASSAYING. 


Kinds  of  Assays.  ?  94.  The  thorough  miner  ought  to 
know  how  to  make  assays.  If  working  in  auriferous  quartz 
or  silver  ore,  he  should  frequently  make  assays  to  ascertain 
whether  he  loses  any  of  the  metal  and  how  much,  and  to  know 
whether  the  rock  will  pay  for  working,  and  how  it  should  be 
worked,  for  the  best  manner  of  treatment  will  sometimes  de- 
pend upon  the  richness  of  the  mineral. 

Assays  are  of  two  kinds,  "  qualitative"  and  "  quantitative  ;" 
the  former  to  ascertain  whether  a  certain  substance  is  in  the 
mineral,  the  latter  to  determine  how  much.  A  qualitative 
assay  of  ore  for  silver  is  made  to  learn  whether  there  is  any  of 
'that  metal  in  the  ore ;  the  quantitative  assay  shows  the  exact 
amount  of  the  silver  in  it. 

Means  of  Assaying.  \  95.  Assays  are  made  with 
acids,  by  smelting  in  crucibles  and  by  melting  under  the  blow- 
pipe. The  processes  are  numerous  and  complicated?  and  some 
of  them  require  a  very  nice  knowledge  of  chemistry.  I  shall 
not  attempt,  therefore,  to  explain  them  all. 

Some  of  the  processes  which  I  describe  here  under  the  head 
of  "  assaying,"  are  often  called  "  prospecting  "  by  miners  ;  but 
it  is  more  convenient  for  me  to  treat  of  an  examination  of 
quartz  rock  made  with  a  horn  spoon  as  an  "  assay,"  rather 
than  as  a  "  prospect." 

Gold  Assay  with  a  Spoon.  \  96.  Every  quartz 
miner  has  a  horn  spoon  for  prospecting  his  lode  and  finding 
what  part  of  the  rock  will  pay.  This  horn  spoon  is  made  o 


122  HAND-BOOK  OF   MINING. 

an  ox  horn,  one-half  of  which  is  cut  away,  leaving  a  bowl  six 
or  eight  inches  long  and  nearly  three  inches  wide.  He  pulver- 
izes his  rock  on  a  smooth,  hard  stone,  a  foot  square.  After 
breaking  the  quartz  with  a  hammer,  he  uses  a  muller  or  hard 
smooth  stone,  about  four  inches  square,  to  crush  the  quartz  to 
a  fine  powder.  He  washes  a  handful  of  this  powder  in  his 
spoon,  which  he  uses  like  a  pan,  and  if  he  can  find  a  few  specks 
of  gold  in  a  handful,  he  infers  that  it  will  pay.  If  he  finds 
not  a  speck  in  a  pound  of  rock,  he  infers  that  it  will  not  pay. 

Assay  of  a  Metallic  Substance.  $97.  If  an  assay 
is  to  be  made  of  a  metallic  substance  to  find  out  how  much 
gold  may  be  in  it,  a  chip  should  be  cut  off  from  one  corner, 
weighed  in  assayer's  scales,  put  into  a  cupel,  heated  to  melting, 
then  withdrawn  and  allowed  to  cool.  The  cupel  is  a  little  cup 
made  of  bone  dust  for  the  special  purpose  of  assaying,  and 
when  base  metals  are  melted  in  it,  it  swallows  them  up,  leav- 
ing the  precious  metals — gold  and  silver — pure.  The  button 
from  the  cupel  is  now  melted  with  enough  silver  to  weigh  three 
times  as  much  as  the  gold  in  it.  This  addition  of  silver  is  nec- 
essary to  enable  nitric  acid  to  eat  away  the  silver  that  was  in 
the  button,  for  when  there  is  a  little  silver  in  much  gold,  the 
acid  cannot  get  at  the  silver.  There  ought  to  be  three  times 
as  much  silver  as  gold  to  enable  the  acid  to  work  to  advantage. 
The  gold  and  silver  having  been  mixed  in  the  proper  propor-* 
tions,  are  rolled  out  into  a  thin  ribbon.  This  is  boiled  in  nitric 
acid,  which  leaves  the  gold  pure. 

Gold  Assay  by  Smelting.  $  98.  If  auriferous  quartz, 
free  from  sulphurets,  is  to  be  assayed,  four  hundred  grains  of 
the  rock  finely  pulverized  may  be  mixed  with  an  equal  weight 
litharge  and  five  grains  of  charcoal.  Put  this  mixture  in  a 
crucible  large  enough  to  contain  twice  as  much  more  ;  then  put 
the  crucible  in  the  furnace  and  melt  the  mass.  Remove  from 
the  fire,  allow  the  crucible  to  get  cold,  break  it  and  the  metal 
will  be  found  in  a  "  button "  at  the  bottom,  covered  with  a 
"  slag"  of  melted  rock  and  other  matter.  Treat  the  button  as 
prescribed  in  the  preceding  paragraph. 

If  the  rock  to  be  assayed  contains  pyrites,  it  must  be  roasted 
•till  it  ceases  to  give  out  sulphurous  fumes.  Mix  four  hundred 
grains  of  the  powder  with  two  hundred  grains  of  litharge,  two 
hundred  grains  of  dry  carbonate  of  soda,  two  hundred  grains 


ASSAYING.  123 

of  dried  borax  and  ten  grains  of  charcoal ;  then  put  into  the 
furnace  and  treat  the  button  as  directed  in  the  last  two  para- 
graphs. 

Presence  of  Copper  Pyrites.  §  99.  Copper  pyri- 
tes in  quartz  sometimes  bears  so  close  a  resemblance  to  gold  as 
to  deceive  even  experienced  miners ;  and,  of  course,  it  is  far 
more  likely  to  deceive  the  inexperienced.  Indeed,  iron  pyrites 
often  deceive  these.  The  best  method  to  discover  the  pres- 
ence of  pyrites,  either  of  copper  or  iron,  is  to  pulverize  the 
mineral,  put  it  into  a  saucer  with  some  nitric  acid,  and  that 
over  a  few  embers,  until  dark  red  vapors  rise.  If  pyrites  be 
present,  the  acid  will  be  discolored.  Or  resort  may  be  had  to 
the  hammer  ;  if  the  mineral  flattens  out  on  the  anvil,  it  is  gold  ; 
if  it  breaks  into  fragments,  it  is  pyrites.  The  latter  substance 
is  usually  in  rectangular  crystals ;  gold  never  takes  that  form. 

Silver  Assay  with  Testing  Tube.  J  100.  The 
best  qualitative  silver  assay  for  the  general  miner,  is  that  with 
the  testing  tube.  This  is  of  thin  glass,  about  five  inches  long 
and' five-eighths  of  an  inch  in  diameter  ;  of  a  rounded  bottom, 
with  the  same  thickness  as  the  sides.  Enough  of  the  mineral, 
finely  pulverized,  is  put  in  to  occupy  an  inch  of  the  tube.  On 
that  is  poured  two  inches  of  nitric  acid.  The  tube  is  placed 
over  a  spirit  lamp  or  a  fire,  till  the  acid  boils.  Nitric  acid 
dissolves  silver  ;  and  by  this  treatment,  if  there  be  any  silver 
in  the  mineral,  the  acid  must  take  it  up.  Filter  the  acid  now 
through  filtering  paper,  which  can  be  had  at  the  drug  shops, 
and  pour  the  acid  back  into  the  tube.  Pour  in  a  few  drops 
of  solution  of  common  salt,  and  if  there  be  any  silver  in  the 
mineral,  a  white  cloud  or  curd  will  be  formed  in  the  acid,  by 
the  silver  precipitated  by  the  salt.  If  there  be  no  cloud,  there 
can  be  no  silver.  If  there  be  a  cloud,  the  mineral  contains 
either  lead  or  silver,  Pour  off  the  acid,  and  expose  the  pre- 
cipitate to  the  sunlight ;  in  five  minutes,  if  silver,  it  will  turn 
purple  ;  then  pour  on  some  spirits  of  ammonia,  and  the  silver 
will  be  dissolved  again.  If  a  testing  tube  is  not  to  be  had,  a 
common  saucer  may  be  used. 

Silver  Assay  by  Smelting.  J  101.  Silver  ores  are 
of  two  kinds  ;  those  containing  lead,  and  those  free  from  it. 
The  former  usually  contain  a  large  amount  of  lead,  or  rather, 


124  HAND-BOOK   OP    MINING. 

they  are  lead  ores  containing  a  little  silver,  and  called  argen- 
tiferous galena.  The  mode  of  assaying  with  the  crucible,  and 
also  of  working  the  lead-bearing  silver  ore,  differs  from  that  of 
the  ore  free  from  lead. 

To  assay  argentiferous  galena,  mix  four  hundred  grains  of 
the  pulverized  ore  with  twelve  hundred  grains  of  carbonate  of 
soda  and  forty  grains  of  charcoal ;  put  into  a  crucible,  and 
that  into  a  furnace  ;  raise  the  heat  sufficient  to  melt  the  mass  ; 
take  out  the  crucible,  give  it  a  tap  or  two,  to  shake  the  metal 
to  the  bottom  of  the  melted  matter  ;  let  it  cool ;  take  out  the 
button,  which  should  be  heated  in  a  cupel  as  described  in  sec- 
tion ninety-seven,  to  drive  off  the  lead,  leaving  the  silver  free. 

Silver  ore  not  containing  lead  may  be  assayed  by  mixing 
four  hundred  grains  of  ore  with  four  hundred  of  litharge,  eight 
grains  of  pulverized  charcoal,  two  hundred  grains  of  carbonate 
of  soda.  This  mixture  is  put  into  a  crucible,  a  thin  layer  of 
borax  is  sprinkled  over  it,  and  it  is  put  into  the  furnace,  and 
treated  as  directed  in  the  preceding  paragraph. 

Assaying  Gold  Quartz  by  Weight.  J  102.  Phil- 
lips, in  his  little  work  on  Gold  Mining  and  Assaying,  gives 
the  following  rule  for  ascertaining  the  amount  of  gold  in  a 
lump  of  auriferous  quartz  : 

"  The  specific  gravity  of  the  gold— 19,000. 
"  The  specific  gravity  of  the  quartz —  2,600. 

"  These  numbers  are  given  here  merely  for  convenience  in 
explaining  the  rule  ;  they  do  not  accurately  represent  the  spe- 
cific gravities  of  all  quartz  and  quartz  gold.  (The  quartz  gold 
of  California  has  not,  on  an  average,  a  specific  gravity  of  more 
than  18,600.) 

"1.  Ascertain  the  specific  gravity  of  the  lump.  Suppose 
it  to  be  8,067. 

"  2.  Deduct  the  specific  gravity  of  the  lump  from  the 
specific  gravity  of  the  gold ;  the  difference  is  the  ratio  of  the 
quartz  by  volume:  19,000—8,067=10,933. 

"  3.  Deduct  the  specific  gravity  of  the  quartz  from  the 
specific  gravity  of  the  lump  ;  the  difference  is  the  ratio  of  the 
gold  by  volume  :  8,067—2,600=5,467. 

"  4.  Add  these  ratios  together,  and  proceed  by  the  rule  of 
proportion.  The  product  is  the  percentage  of  gold  by  bulk  : 
10,9334-5,467=16,400.  Then  as.  16,400  is  to  5,467,  so  is 
100  to  33,35. 


ASSAYING.  125 

"  5.  Multiply  the  percentage  of  gold  by  bulk  by  its  specific 
gravity.  The  product  is  the  ratio  of  the  gold  in  the  lump  by 
weight  :  33,35X19,00=633,65. 

"  6.  Multiply  the  percentage  of  quartz  by  bulk,  (which 
must  be  66,65  since  that  of  the  gold  is  33,35)  by  its  specific 
gravity.  The  product  is  the  ratio  of  the  quartz  in  the  lump 
by  weight:  66,65X2,60=173,29. 

"7.  To  find  the  percentage,  add  these  two  ratios  together, 
and  proceed  by  the  rule  of  proportion  :  633,65+173,29=806,94. 
Then,  as  806,94  is  to  633,65,  so  is  100  to  78,53.  Hence,  a  lump 
of  auriferous  quartz,  having  a  specific  gravity  of  8,067,  con- 
tains 78,73  per  cent,  of  gold,  by  weight." 

To  find  the  specific  gravity  of  a  lump  of  gold,  quartz  or 
auriferous  quartz,  divide  the  weight  of  the  lump  in  air  by  the 
weight  of  an  equal  amount  of  water.  To  find  the  weight  of 
an  equal  amount  of  water,  deduct  the  weight  of  the  lump  in 
water  from  the  weight  of  the  lump  in  air.  When  the  lump  is 
to  be  weighed  in  water,  it  should  be  suspended  by  a  horse-hair 
so  as  to  hang  into  the  water  ;  keeping,  of  course,  all  other 
parts  of  the  scales  clear  of  the  water. 

Importance  of  fair  samples  in  Assaying.  $  103. 
In  making  assays  of  auriferous  minerals,  as,  indeed,  of  all  ores, 
the  first  point  is,  to  get  a  fair  sample  of  the  mineral ;  and 
whenever  the  result  of  an  assay  is  to  be  considered  as  the  basis 
for  the  purchase  of  the  claim,  or  the  investment  of  money,  the 
person  proposing  to  purchase  or  invest  should  first  satisfy 
himself  that  the  sample  assayed  was  a  fair  average  specimen. 
He  should  know  that  the  sample  was  chosen  with  all  the  hon- 
esty and  precaution  of  which  such  cases  admit.  Metalliferous 
vein  stones  vary  greatly  in  richness  ;  in  some  places  presenting 
nearly  pure  metal,  in  others,  being  almost  barren.  It  is  a  very 
common  occurrence  in  mining  countries,  that  dishonest  men 
select  rich  bits  of  ore,  have  them  assayed,  show  the  assayers' 
certificates,  assert  that  the  samples  assayed  were  fair  samples  of 
the  vein,  and  try  to  find  purchasers  on  the  credit  of  their  asser- 
tions. The  proper  way  to  guard  against  such  frauds  is,  to 
know  that  the  assay  fairly  represents  a  considerable  quantity 
of  mineral,  which,  itself,  fairly  represents  the  body  of  the  claim 
as  near  as  possible.  Only  very  small  amounts  can  be  assayed ; 
but  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  ascertain,  by  assay,  the  value  of  a 
large  quantity  of  rock.  A  ton  of  rock  may  be  pulverized 


126  HAND-BOOK   OP   MIXING. 

finely,  then  mixed  up  together  carefully,  and  the  powder  will 
be  of  the  same  quality  throughout ;  and  then  an  assay  of  an 
ounce  of  it  will  truly 'represent  the  whole  ton  ;  whereas,  if  an 
assay  had  been  made  of  an  equal  weight  of  rock  broken  off  at 
random,  from  the  vein,  the  result  would  not  have  given  any 
trustworthy  indication  of  the  worth  of  the  rock.  In  case  that 
dust  is  to  be  assayed,  it  should  be  melted  and  stirred  together, 
and  then  chips  chiseled  off  from  opposite  corners  may  be  as- 
sayed. It  has  frequently  happened,  for  instance,  that  gold 
miners  in  California  have  brought  their  dust  to  San  Francisco 
and  deposited  part  of  it  in  the  Mint,  and  part  of  it  in  a  private 
refinery,  and  found  that  the  deposit  in  one  place  was  estimated 
at  a  higher  value  per  ounce  than  in  the  other  ;  and  this  with 
dust,  all  of  which  had  come  from  the  same  claim  ;  and  then 
they  have  made  charges,  or  had  suspicions  of  dishonesty.  But 
this  was  a  mere  suspicion,  without  good  cause,  unless  the  dis- 
crepancy was  larger  than  any  I  have  ever  heard  of.  In  such 
case,  if  the  miner  had  wished  to  test  the  accuracy  of  the  assays, 
he  should  have  made  sure  that  the  samples  to  be  assayed  were 
of  precisely  the  same  quality,  and  that  can  only  be  done  by 
melting  together,  if  the  substance  be  metal,  or  mixing  together 
in  powder,  if  it  be  an  ore. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

MODES  OF  PLACER  MINING. 


List  of  Modes.  §  104.  The  modes  of  placer  mining 
are  numerous,  and  most  of  them  are  named  after  the  instru- 
ments used.  The  principal  are  knife  mining,  dry  digging, 
dry  washing,  panning,  mining  with  the  cradle,  with  the  quick- 
silver machine,  the  torn,  the  sluice — of  which  last  there  are 
several  kinds — and  the  hydraulic  process. 

Knife  Mining.  §  105.  Mining  with  the  knife  is  the 
simplest  mode  of  obtaining  gold.  It  can  be  pursued  with 
profit,  as  a  business  only,  by  experienced  miners,  in  diggings 
rich  in  coarse  gold.  The  knife  miner  must  know  where  to 
look  for  the  richest  spots,  and  avoid  everything  else.  He 
seeks  for  crevices,  from  which  he  scrapes  all  the  dirt,  picking 
out  the  separate  pieces  of  gold,  if  it  be  coarse,  or  if  it  be  fine, 
putting  gold  and  dirt  together  into  his  pan,  and  panning  out 
when  his  pan  is  full,  or  when  he  has  done  with  a  crevice. 

* 

Dry  Digging.  §  106.  "Dry  digging"  differs  from 
knife  mining  in  this,  that  the  latter  requires  the  use  of  the 
knife  and  pan,  whereas  the  former  may  require  the  use  of 
the  pick  and  shovel  to  strip  off  the  top  dirt,  and  does  not 
require  the  pan.  "  Dry  digging  "  is  a  mode  of  mining,  and  is 
not  to  be  confounded  with  "  dry  diggings,"  a  kind  of  mining 
ground.  The  process  of  dry  digging  has  been  described  in 
section  ninety-one,  under  the  head  of  prospecting ;  for  pros- 
pecting with  the  knife  is  the  same  as  dry  digging. 

Dry  Washing.  J  107.-  Dry  washing  is  used  in  very 
rich  coarse  gold  diggings,  where  there  is  no  water.  The 


128  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

miner  tosses  the  dirt  into  the  air  while  the  wind  is  blowing, 
and  thus  gradually  winnows  out  the  gold.  The  Mexicans 
have  done  more  work  at  this  kind  of  mining,  in  California, 
than  any  other  class.  The  Mariposa  Gazette  thus  describes 
the  process  as  pursued  by  them  in  that  county  : 

"  During  the  dry  summer  months,  the  Mexican  miner  may 
be  seen,  at  almost  any  hour  during  the  day,  coyoting  (burrow- 
ing like  the  coyote,  or  small  Californian  wolf)  for  gold  in  the 
neighboring  hills  or  the  adjacent  flats.  Sinking  a  square  hole, 
some  four  or  five  feet  deep,  to  the  bed-rock,  he  carefully 
scrapes  all  the  dirt  lying  immediately  on  the  ledge  into  a 
wooden  batea,  (or  pan)  which  he  carries  to  the  nearest  tree, 
and  under  its  shade  pounds  up  the  hard  lumps  of  earth,  until 
nothing  but  dust  remains.  A  bullock's  hide  is  now  spread 
out  upon  a  level  spot,  when  the  Mexican  raises  the  batea  above 
his  head,  and  with  an  oscillating  motion  shakes  out  the  dust 
upon  the  skin,  until  all  the  dust  has  fallen.  This  process  is 
renewed  for  a  number  of  times,  until  very  little  of  the  original 
mass  remains,  which  is  carefully  collected  and  placed  in  a  pile 
separate  from  the  unpounded  earth.  When  it  is  found  that  the 
claim  from  which  the  dirt  has  been  taken  pays  rich,  or  even 
reasonably  well,  the  Mexican  returns  to  his  diggings,  and 
commences  to  cut  into  the  sides  of  his  hole,  just  above  or  adja- 
cent to  the  bed-rock.  They  are  a  species  of  badger  miner. 
Sticking  close  to  the  ledge,  they  will  burrow  with  their  light 
crow-bars  for  a  distance  of  six  or  eight  feet,  ascending  or 
descending  with  the  ledge,  following  it  closely,  and  carefully 
scraping  up  the  earth  upon  its  surface.  They  seldom  use  any 
other  tools  except  the  small  crow-bar,  which  is  pointed  at  both 
ends,  the  b'atea  and  the  horn  spoon,  with  which  they  scrape  and 
rake  up  the  soil,  after  first  loosening  it  with  the  bar.  They 
are  by  no  means  selfish  in  their  mining  operations.  When 
one  strikes  a  good  claim,  his  neighbors  and  friends  are  soon 
informed  of  it ;  but  it  is  only  to  their  own  countrymen  to 
whom  he  is  thus  disinterestedly  generous.  When  one  claim 
has  proved  good,  the  whole  of  the  gulch,  flat  or  hill,  is  soon 
taken  up  by  his  compatriols,  and  then  begins  the  work  of  coy- 
oting, in  which  they  seem  to  delight,  and  which  gives  so 
remarkable  an  appearance  to  the  mines  wherever  they  have 
been  working.  Dry  washing  requires  considerable  slight  of 
hand  in  working  to  advantage.  A  windy  day  is  preferable  for 
this  manner  of  washing,  as  the  wind  more  rapidly  carries  off 


MODES   OF    PLACER   MINING.  129 

the  fine  dirt,  while  the  great  density  of  the  gold  removes  all 
fear  of  its  being  carried  off  the  hide,  even  by  the  strongest 
breeze.  The  Mexicans  make  a  good  living  during  the  sum- 
mer months  at  dry  washing,  and  in  many  instances  we  have 
known  them  to  realize  small  fortunes  by  this  manner  of 
washing." 

Panning,  g  108.  The  process  of  panning  has  been  de- 
scribed in  section  eighty-nine,  under  the  head  of  prospecting. 

It  sometimes  happens,  in  mining  with  the  pan,  but  much 
more  frequently  in  mining  with  the  rocker,  that  a  large  quan- 
tity of  black  sand,  lull  of  fine  particles  of  gold,  is  collected. 
The  black  sand  is  very  heavy,  and  cannot  be  separated  from 
the  fine  gold  by  panning  ;  and  blowing  must  be  resorted  to. 
This  is  done  in  a  "  blower"  of  tin  or  brass,  a  dish  from  four 
to  ten  inches  wide,  and  twice  as  long  as  broad,  open  at  one  end, 
with  a  rim  an  inch  high,  at  the  other  end,  and  the  two  sides. 
Into  this  blower  the  black  sand  and  gold  are  poured  ;  and 
while  the  mouth  of  the  blower  is  raised  a  little  above  the 
level,  the  miner  blows  the  sand  away,  gently,  with  his  breath, 
occasionally  shaking  the  blower,  so  as  to  change  the  position 
of  the  particles. 

The  Rocker.  §  109.  The  cradle  or  rocker  is,  next  to 
the  pan,  the  most  simple  instrument  for  washing  gold.  It  re- 
sembles, in  size  and  shape,  a  child's  cradle,  has  similar  rockers, 
and  is  rocked  in  a  similar  manner  ;'  whence  its  name.  The 
cradle  box  is  a  wooden  trough,  about  twenty  inches  wide  and 
forty  long,  with  sides  four  inches  high.  The  lower  end  is  left 
open.  On  the  upper  end  sits  a  hopper  or  riddle,  which  is  a 
box  twenty  inches  square,  with  wooden  sides  four*inches  high, 
and  a  bottom  of  sheet  iron  or  zinc,  pierced  with  numerous 
holes,  half  an  inch  in  diameter.  Under  the  hopper  is  an  apron 
of  wood  or  cloth,  which  slopes  down  from  the  lower  end  of  the 
hopper  to  the  upper  end  of  the  cradle  box.  A  strip  of  wood 
an  inch  square,  called  a  riffle  bar,  is  nailed  across  the  bottom 
of  the  cradle  box,  about  its  middle,  and  another  at  its  lower 
end.  Under  the  bottom  of  the  cradle  box  are  nailed  two 
rockers,  so  that  a  rocking  motion  may  be  given  to  the  machine. 
Sometimes  an  iron  spike  runs  down  from  the  center  of  each 
rocker,  and  enters  a  hole  in  the  bar  of  wood  on  which  the 
rocker  rests.  The  purpose  of  the  spike  is  to  keep  the  rocker 


130  HAND-BOOK   OF    MINING. 

from  moving  sidewise,  or  slipping  downwards.  The  wooden 
bars  on  which  the  rockers  rest  may  be  connected  together  by 
cross  pieces,  so  as  to  form  a  square  frame. 

When  the  rocker  is  to  be  used,  it  is  placed  in  the  spot  to 
which  the  pay-dirt-,  and  a  constant  supply  of  water,  can  most 
conveniently  be  brought.  The  lower  end  of  the  cradle  is  placed 
so  as  to  be  about  two  inches  lower  than  the  upper  end.  The 
miner  fills  his  hopper  with  pay-dirt,  sits  down  by  the  side  of 
his  cradle,  pours  a  dipperful  of  water  upon  the  dirt,  and  begins 
to  rock,  and  keeps  on  pouring  water  and  rocking  until  nothing 
remains  in  the  hopper  save  clean  stones.  He  then  rises,  lifts 
up  his  hopper,  throws  out  the  stones,  and  is  ready  to  repeat 
the  operation.  It  very  rarely  happens  that  he  finds  pay-dirt, 
all  of  which  will  pass  through  his  riddle.  The  length  of  time 
required  for  washing  a  hopper  of  dirt  depends  upon  the  tenacity 
of  the  dirt,  the  supply  of  water,  and  the  violence  of  the  rocking. 
If  the  clay  be  very  tough,  a  quarter  of  an  hour  may  be  spent 
in  washing  a  hopper ;  if  it  contain  much  sand,  two  or  three 
minutes  may  be  enough.  The  water,  dissolved  clay,  sand  and 
gravel  and  gold,  less  than  half  an  inch  in  diameter,  fall  down 
through  the  holes  upon  the  apron,  which  carries  them  to  the 
upper  end  of  the  cradle  box,  whence  they  run  down  towards 
the  open  end.  The  gold  and  heavier  particles  of  gravel  are 
caught  behind  the  riffle  bars ;  the  water,  thin  mud  and  other 
light  materials  are  carried  away  over  the  riffle  bars,  and  are 
considered  worthless. 

The  rocker  requires  a  large  supply  of  water,  which  should 
be  supplied  by  a  little  brook,  with  a  reservoir  large  enough  to 
receive  the  dipper,  and  near  enough  to  the  miner  to  enable  him 
to  reach  the  water  without  moving  from  his  seat  by  his  cradle. 
Both  the  water  and  the  rocking  are  necessary  to  wash  with 
the  cradle ;  both  are  needed  to  dissolve  the  clay  and  carry 
away  the  light  and  soluble  matter,  while  retaining  the  gold. 
The  rocking  would  do  no  good  without  the  water,  and  the 
water  would  do  little  good  without  the  rocking.  As  almost  a 
constant  stream  of  water  pours  into  the  hopper  from  the  dipper, 
so  almost  a  constant  stream  pours  out  at  the  lower  end  of  the 
cradle  box. 

If  the  gold  is  very  fine,  the  hopper  may  be  put  over  the 
lower  end  of  the  cradle,  so  that  the  apron  may  be  longer,  and 
much  of  the  gold  is  then  caught  on  the  apron. 

The  rocker  must  not  be  set  level,  for  in  that  case  too  much 


MODES   OP   PLACER  MINING.  131 

dirt  would  accumulate  above  the  riffle  bars,  and  would  "  pack  " 
or  settle  down  into  a  hard  mass,  on  a  level  with  the  riffle  bars, 
and  all  the  dirt  and  gold  coming  down  after  it  had  once  packed, 
would  run  away  as  over  a  smooth  board.  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  inclination  of  the  rocker  be  too  steep,  the  current  of  water 
is  too  strong  and  carries  away  the  gold  with  the  dirt. 

Packing  is  a  serious  difficulty  in  the  way  of  all  or  nearly  all 
processes  of  gold  washing.  The  dirt  will  pack  in  cradles  and 
sluices  ;  and  when  it  has  once  packed,  there  is  little  obstacle 
to  the  escape  of  the  precious  metal.  Many  devices  have  been 
used  to  prevent  packing  ;  but  I  never  knew  one  to  succeed. 
Sometimes,  the  bottom  of  the  cradle  is  made  of  sheet  iron,  and 
of  a  concave  shape,  being  about  two  inches  deeper  in  the 
middle  than  at  the  sides  ;  but  the  dirt  packs  in  these  cradles 
nearly  as  badly  as  in  the  others.  If  I  had  need  of  a  rocker 
now,  I  think  I  should  try  one  with  a  convex  sheet  iron  bottom, 
the  convex  side  up,  with  a  riffle  bar  considerably  higher  at  the 
sides  than  in  the  middle.  Quicksilver  has  been  used  in  cradles, 
to  prevent  packing  and  to  catch  the  fine  gold ;  but  in  most 
cases  some  of  the  amalgam  is  lost,  carrying  away  gold  that 
would  otherwise  be  saved,  and  it  does  not  prevent  packing. 
The  more  constant  the  rocking  of  the  cradle,  the  less  the  dan- 
ger of  packing.  A  device  to  prevent  packing,  is  to  put  a  little 
block  under  the  rockers  at  each  end,  so  that  every  time  they 
come  down  the  cradle  gets  a  jolt,  shaking  up  the  gravel 
on  the  bottom  and  letting  the  water  get  under  it,  and  thus  pre- 
venting its  settling.  A  rocker  always  furnishes  work  for  at 
least  two  men,  and  the  dirt  does  not  pack  so  badly  when  two 
are  at  work  as  when  there  is  only  one  ;  for  in  the  latter  case, 
after  washing  a  hopper,  he  must  always  move  from,  his  seat, 
take  up  his  shovel  and  fill  his  hopper,  and  then  go  back  ; 
whereas,  if  there  are  two,  the  "  shoveler  "  can  fill  the  hopper  as 
soon  as  the  "  cradler  "  has  emptied  it.  The  cradler  has  a 
large  iron  spoon,  with  which  he  occasionally  scrapes  over  and 
loosens  the  dirt  that  has  lodged  above  the  riffle  bars,  and 
several  times  in  the  course  of  the  day,  he  "  cleans  up,"  by 
taking  out  the  dirt  into  his  pan  and  panning  it  out.  The 
upper  riffle  bar  always  catches  much  more  gold  than  the  lower 
one  ;  and  sometimes  cradles  are  made  about  two  feet  long  with 
a  single  riffle  bar.  These  are  made  only  when  they  are  to  be 
frequently  moved. 

The  cradle  should  be  placed,  if  possible,  so  near  the  claim 


132  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

that  the  pay-dirt  may  be  shoveled  directly  into  the  hopper ; 
but  a  greater  weight  of  water  is  required  than  of  dirt,  and  if 
water  cannot  be  brought  to  the  claim,  the  dirt  must  be  taken 
to  the  water.  The  mode  of  carrying  the  dirt  depends  upon 
the  distance  and  the  nature  of  the  road.  If  the  distance  be 
small,  men  carry  the  dirt  in  buckets,  or  wheel  it  in  wheel-bar- 
rows ;  if  great,  pack  mules,  carts  or  wagons  arerused.  When 
the  water  can  be  brought  to  the  claim,  two  men  are  usually 
enough,  in  shallow  diggings,  for  one  rocker.  But  if  six  or 
eight  feet  or  more  of  barren  dirt  is  to  be  "  stripped  "  off, 
before  reaching  the  pay-dirt,  three  or  more  may  be  required. 
Sometimes  a  laborer  is  occupied  with  bailing  water  out  of  the 
claim,  and  attending  to  the  "  tailings,"  as  the  gravel  and  sand 
which  escape  at  the  lower  end  of  the  rocker  are  called.  These 
"  tailings"  are  deposited  by  the  water  after  leaving  the  rocker, 
and  soon  accumulate  in  a  formidable  amount,  if  not  carried 
away  by  a  swift  descent. 

A  miner  alone  should  wash,  in  ordinary  shallow  diggings, 
from  seventy-five  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  "  pans  "  of  dirt  in  a 
day  with  a  cradle ;  and  two,  twice  as  many.  A  pan  is  an  in- 
definite amount,  varying  from  half  a  peck  to  a  peck  ;  perhaps, 
usually,  about  half  a  cubic  foot  of  dirt.  Frequently  the 
shoveler  has  a  pan  or  bucket,  which  he  fills  with  his  shovel, 
and  when  the  cradler  is  ready  for  him,  he  picks  up  the  pan 
and  empties  it  into  the  hopper. 

In  some  pay-dirt  the  clay  is  so  tough  that  more  than  an 
hour  would  be  required  to  completely  dissolve  a  hopperful  of 
it.  Sometimes  the  cradler  undertakes  to  mash  up  the  lumps 
with  his  hands  ;  sometimes  he  rocks  his  cradle  and  pours  his 
water  for  five  or  ten  minutes  or  so  at  a  hopperful,  and  throws 
out  all  the  lumps  undissolved  at  the  end  of  that  time,  intending 
to  wash  them  over  again  after  they  shall  have  been  softened 
by  exposure  to  the  weather.  Sometimes  the  dirt  is  dug  up 
and  exposed  to  the  weather  before  it  is  washed. 

The  Puddling  Box.  §  110.  Another  device  for  dis- 
solving  tough  auriferous  clay,  is.  the  puddling  box.  This  is  a 
rough  wooden  box,  a  foot  deep  and  five  feet  square.  The  clay 
is  thrown  in  with  water,  and  worked  about  with  a  hoe  until 
dissolved,  when  a  peg  is  taken  out  of  an  auger  hole  about  four 
inches  from  the  bottom,  and  the  thin  mud  or  "  slum  "  runs  out, 
leaving  the  heavier  material  at  the  bottom.  The  work  con- 


MODES   OF   PLACER   MINING.  133 

tinues  in  this  way  all  clay,  and  at  night  the  contents  of  the  box 
are  taken  out  and  washed  with  a  cradle  or  pan. 

The  Long  Tom.  \  111.  The  torn  or  long  torn  is  a 
wooden  trough,  from  eight  to  fourteen  feet  long,  eight  inches 
deep,  usually  about  sixteen  inches  wide  at  the  upper,  and 
thirty  inches  wide  at  the  lower  end.  The  bottom  at  the  lower 
end  is  made  of  a  riddle  or  perforated  sheet  of  iron,  and  under 
this  riddle  is  placed  a  riffle  box,  or  small  trough  with  several 
riffle  bars.  A  constant  stream  of  water  runs  through  the  torn, 
entering  at  the  upper  end,  where  the  dirt  is  thrown  in.  The 
riddle  has  an  upward  turn  at  its  lower  end,  so  that  nothing 
can  run  over  there.  The  large  stones  are  thrown  out  with  a 
shovel,  and  the  small  ones  escape  with  the  sand  and  gravel 
through  the  riddle.  The  gold  is  all  caught  in  the  riffle  box, 
where  the  dirt  is  kept  loose  by  the  water  falling  from  above. 
Sometimes  quicksilver  is  put  into  the  riffle  box  to  catch  the 
fine  gold.  From  three  to  six  men  may  work  with  a  torn.  The 
torn  is  better  suited  for  level  ground  than  the  sluice,  which  re- 
quires a  considerable  descent  for  the  water.  The  torn  is  very 
seldom  seen  now  in  California. 

The  Quicksilver  Machine.  ?112.  The  quicksilver 
machine  or  Burke  rocker,  is  a  long  cradle  on  stilts,  with  reser- 
voirs of  quicksilver  in  the  bottom.  It  is  about  seven  feet  long, 
two  feet  wide  and  two  feet  high.  An  immovable  riddle  or 
perforated  plate  of  iron  forms  the  top  of  the  machine  through- 
out its  length.  Under  this  is  the  box  containing  a  number  of 
riffle  bars,  and  above  each  one  some  quicksilver  is  placed.  The 
dirt  is  thrown  upon  the  head  of  the  riddle,  where  a  stream  of 
water  plays  constantly  through  a  hose,  and  the  rocking  motion 
of  the  machine  and  its  downward  inclination  keep  the  dirt 
moving  gradually  toward  the  lower  end,  where  the  stones  are 
allowed  to  escape,  but  the  lumps  of  earth  not  dissolved  are 
pushed  back  under  the  water  and  retained  until  they  disappear. 
The  quicksilver  machine  requires  at  least  four  men  to  work  it, 
and  in  many  places  seven  or  eight  men  are  necessary.  It  is 
suited  only  for  fine  gold,  for  if  the  gold  be  coarse  it  might  be 
caught  with  far  less  trouble  in  the  cradle,  torn  or  sluice,  The 
machine  is  cleaned  once  a  day.  All  the  gold  is  found  in  the 
mercury,  which  is  squeezed  through  buckskin  and  the  amalgam 
retorted.  Quicksilver  machines  are  great  rarities  in  the  mines 
now,  though  pretty  extensively  used  previous  to  1852. 


134  HAND-BOOK   OP  MINING. 

The  Board  Sluice,  g  113.  The  board  sluice  is  the 
most  important  of  all  mining  inventions  for  washing  dirt.  It 
is  a  large  wooden  trough,  from  one  to  five  feet  wide,  and  from 
fifty  to  fifteen  hundred  feet  long,  or  even  longer — the  longer 
the  better.  It  has  numerous  riffle  bars,  and  an  inclination 
varying  from  an  inch  to  an  inch  and  a  half  in  a  foot.  The 
larger  and  longer  the  sluice  and  the  greater  the  amount  of 
water,  the  steeper  the  inclination. 

The  sluice  is  made  of  inch  and  a  half  boards,  twelve  or  four- 
teen (usually  twelve)  feet  long,  and  in  sections  of  that  length. 
These  sections  or  boxes  are  three  inches  wider  at  the  top  than 
at  the  bottom,  so  that  they  fit  into  each  other.  They  can  thus 
be  put  together,  taken  apart  and  hauled  about  with  very  little 
trouble.  The  boxes  stand  upon  trestles,  two  or  three  under 
each  box.  Very  rarely  does  the  sluice  lie  its  whole  length  on 
the  ground.  The  inclination  of  a  sluice  is  called  its  "  grade." 
If  there  is  a  descent  of  twelve  inches  in  each  box  of  twelve 
feet — the  descent  being  usually  uniform  throughout  the  sluice 
— it  is  said  to  have  a  "twelve  inch  grade;"  or  if  the  descent 
be  eighteen  inches,  then  the  sluice  has  an  "eighteen  inch  grade." 
The  depth  of  the  sluice  box  is  from  one-third  to  one-half  of  its 
width.  Sometimes  the  sluice  is  made  double,  with  a  longitud- 
inal division  through  the  middle.  The  advantages  of  this  plan 
are,  that  it  may  be  used  by  two  companies  or  one,  that  it  can 
be  used  with  a  large  or  small  supply  of  water,  and  that  while 
"  cleaning  up  "  is  in  progress  on  one  side,  the  ordinary  washing 
may  continue  on  the  other. 

A  vast  amount  of  dirt  may  be  washed  in  a  sluice.  The 
largest  size,  four  feet  wide,  will  wash  a  mass  twenty  feet  cubic 
of  dirt  in  a  day,  equal  to  four  hundred  and  fifty  cubic  yards  ; 
but  this  amount  of  dirt  can  only  be  supplied  by  a  hydraulic. 
A  small  sluice  will  wash  all  the  dirt  that  can  by  thrown  in  by 
from  five  to  fifteen  men.  One  man  is  often  required  to  see  that 
the  sluice  does  not  choke — that  is,  that  large  stones  and  lumps 
of  clay  do  not  collect  in  one  spot  to  dam  up  the  water  and 
drive  it  over  the  sides.  In  small  sluices,  a  "  sluice-fork  "  is 
sometimes  used  for  throwing  out  the  large  stones.  This  fork 
is  one  invented  for  this  special  purpose.  It  has  five  tines,  three 
inches  apart,  about  a  toot  long ;  blunt,  and  of  equal  width 
from  heel  to  point.  The  tines  are  made  blunt  so  that  they  may 
not  catch  in  the  wood,  and  that  stones  may  not  get  wedged  in 
between  them. 


MODES   OF    PLACER   MINING.  135 

A  constant  stream  of  water  enters  the  head  of  the  sluice, 
and  runs  through  its  entire  length.  The  size  of  the  stream 
varies  from  twelve  to  two  hundred  inches.  (See  §  125.)  When 
the  sluice  is  used  to  wash  the  dirt  of  a  hydraulic  claim,  the 
amount  of  .water  is  very  rarely  less  than  forty  inches.  From 
eighteen  to  twenty  inches  arfc,  however,  considered  the  usual 
supply  for  a  board  sluice  not  connected  with  a  hydraulic  claim , 
and  that  amount  is  called  a  "  sluice-head." 

In  the  bottom  of  the  sluice  are  placed  longitudinal  riffle 
bars,  which  are  six  feet  long,  from  two  to  four  inches  wide,  and 
from  three  to  seven  inches  high.  They  are  put  down  an  inch 
or  an  inch  and  a  half  apart,  and  are  wedged  in  their  places. 
There  are  two  sets  in  a  box,  the  riffle  bars  being  only  six  feet 
long  while  the  boxes  are  twelve.  In  rare  cases  the  riffle  bars 
cross  the  box  diagonally,  running  downwards  from  one  side, 
then  from  the  otner. 

The  great  body  of  water  rushing  down  through  the  sluice, 
hurrying  with  it  many  large  stones,  rapidly  wears  out  the 
sluice  boxes,  or  wood  in  them  exposed  to  the  friction.  In  hy- 
draulic claims,  all  the  stones  run  through  the  sluices,  some  of 
them  weighing  one  hundred  arid  fifty  or  two  hundred  pounds. 
Larger  boulders  are  broken  up  with  hammers,  and  reduced  to 
a  size  which  may  be  safely  allowed  to  enter  the  sluice  box. 
The  sides  of  the  sluice  boxes  are  protected  by  boards,  which 
must  be  renewed  frequently.  The  riffle  bars  suffer  most,  and  in 
hydraulic  sluices  must  be  renewed  every  week.  A  plan  has 
lately  been  devised,  however,  to  make  "  block  riffle  bars,"  sawn 
across  the  grain,  and  only  two  feet  long.  When  fastened  down 
in  the  sluice  the  grain  will  be  perpendicular,  and  the  wood  will 
not  be  worn  away  so  rapidly  as  when  the  grain  lies  lengthwise 
in  the  box.  , 

The  spaces  between  the  riffle  bars  soon  fill  up  with  stones 
and  dirt,  but  there  are  such  irregularities  in  the  surface  that 
there  are  numerous  little  cavities  where  the  particles  of  gold, 
quicksilver  and  amalgam  will  be  arrested.  In  a  couple  of 
hours  after  washing  has  commenced,  some  quicksilver  is  put 
into  the  sluice  at  the  head,  and  it  gradually  works  its  way 
downward,  catching  gold  as  it  passes  along.  When  the  riffle 
bars  are  placed  diagonally  in  the  sluice,  they  do  not  touch  the 
side  at  their  lower  ends,  but  leave  an  open  space  through  which 
stones  and  quicksilver  can  pass,  and  going  through  they  strike 
the  next  bar,  which  carries  them  to  the  other  side,  and  so  they 


136  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

go  rolling  from  one  side  to  the  other.  A  vessel  of  quicksilver, 
with  a  small  hole  in  the  side,  so  as  to  allow  the  liquid  metal  to 
escape  in  drops,  stands  at  the  head  of  the  sluice,  and  these 
drops  run  their  zig-zag  course  down  the  sluice,  overtaking  all 
the  gold  and  catching  some  of  ^f,  and  being  themselves  caught 
in  longitudinal  riffles  near  the  end.  These  diagonal  riffle  bars 
are,  however,  very  rarely  used,  and  only  in  small  sluices. 

The  period  of  time  from  the  commencing  to  wash  in  a  sluice 
to  the  cleaning  up,  is  called  a  "  run."  In  very  large  sluices,  a 
run  lasts  till  the  riffle  bars  are  worn  out — usually  in  six  or  eight 
days,  which  is  the  ordinary  duration  of  a  run  in  all  classes  of 
board  sluices.  Many  sluice  miners  clean  up  on  Sunday  ;  it  is 
light  work,  and  they  have  got  into  the  custom. 

Cleaning  up  commences  with  taking  up  five  or  six  sets  of 
riffle  bars  at  the  head  of  the  sluice.  Most  of  the  gold  and 
amalgam  that  was  caught  in  these  riffles,  now  lodges  above  the 
first  set  left  in  the  box.  A  man  with  a  scoop  and  a  pan  takes 
up  this  precious  material ;  then  five  or  six  more  sets  of  riffle 
bars  are  taken  up,  and  so  on. 

From  five  to  twenty  men  can  work  with  a  sluice.  Most  of  the 
work  is  necessary  to  dig  the  dirt,  and  as  this  is  done  by  the 
force  of  water  in  hydraulic  claims,  fewer  men  are  required  in 
hydraulic  sluices  than  in  others. 

Mr.  A.  B.  Paul,  an  authority  in  these  matters,  gives  the  fol- 
lowing advice  to  sluice-miners  as  to  the  best  method  of  saving 
very  fine  gold  : 

"  Get  a  sheet  of  copper-plate,  say  three  feet  long,  but  as 
much  more  as  you  like,  and  eighteen  inches  wide,  or  whatever 
width  you  may  desire  your  sluice  boxes.  Also,  get  a  sheet  of 
^ron-plate — or  very  heavy  Russia  iron  might  do.  You  want  it 
strong  enough  to  stand  the  wear  and  tear  of  sluicing,  and  of 
the  same  length  and  breadth  as  your  copper-plate.  Have  this 
iron  perforated  by  slits  half  an  inch  in  length,  and  not  over  a 
sixteenth  of  an  inch  wide,  and  not  have  the  openings  follow 
each  other  in  a  row,  but  change  position  on  every  half  inch. 
So  any  fine  substance  floating  over,  is  bound  to  go  through 
some  one  of  them.  You  will  of  course  have  the  length  of  the 
openings  to  run  with  the  width  of  the  plate.  These  can  be 
got  up  best  by  those  accustomed  to  making  screens  for  quartz 
mills. 

"  You  now  want  some  quicksilver,  say  ten  pounds,  and  a 
pound  of  nitric  acid,  and  we  will  then  'goto  work.'  You 


MODES    OF    PLACER   MINING.  137 

have  all  the  material  for  working,  excepting  the  sluice  boxes. 
On  opening  the  copper-plate  for  use,  and  which  for  convenience 
in  packing  you  have  probably  rolled  up,  you  will  see  that  it  is 
hammered  out  and  lies  perfectly  flat.  Arrange  your  sluice 
boxes  at  whatever  grade  is  best  suited  to  the  dirt  to  be  washed, 
and  of  what  length  you  want,  as  I  have  only  to  do  with  the 
last  one.  All  being  set,  we  will  now  line  the  bottom  of  the 
last  box  with  the  copper-plate,  which,  as  I  said  before,  you 
want  to  have  as  level  as  possible.  Inside,  and  on  each  side, 
nail  a  strip  of  board,  say  six  inches  in  width.  This  will  hold 
the  coppers  in  place,  and  keep  the  amalgam  from  working  under 
the  edges ;  besides,  they  act  as  the  support  for  your  own  per- 
forated plating,  which  now  is  set  on  the  strips,  and  directly 
over  the  copper  plating. 

"  We  will  now  take  up  the  iron  plating,  which  for  conveni- 
ence should  be  made  movable,  and  prepare  the  coppers  for 
use.  Then  set  the  box ;  take  a  small  portion  of  your  nitric 
acid ;  mix  it  half  and  half  with  water ;  then  take  a  rag,  or 
sponge,  or  whatever  may  come  handy,  and  wash  the  exposed 
surface  of  the  copper.  Having  done  this,  take  a  little  of  your 
silver,  drop  it  on,  and  rub  your  plate  thoroughly  till  it  is  all 
perfectly  silvered.  Now  set  your  sluice  at  the  same  grade  as 
the  others,  but  drop  it  so  as  to  bring  the  iron  plating  on  a  level 
with  the  bottom  of  the  one  above.  It  will  be  seen  at  a  glance 
that  the  larger  and  heavier  material  rushing  down  the  sluices 
will  easily  glide  off,  and  allow  the  finer  particles  of  gold — 
which  by  this  time  have  gained  the  bottom — and  other  fine 
substances  to  descend,  with  a  portion  of  water,  through  the 
openings  on  to  the  coppers  below.  If  possible,  let  a  small 
stream  of  fresh  water  in  at  the  head  of  the  coppers,  but  be 
careful  not  to  have  too  much.  This  will  thin  the  ^material 
coming  through,  and  allow  the  gold  to  be  more  readily  caught. 
You  want  a  riffle  below  your  coppers,  to  catch  whatever  quick- 
silver may  run  off  of  them  by  overcharging.  Your  coppers  at 
first  will  turn  green,  but  no  matter ;  every  morning,  for  the 
first  few  days,  rub  it  off,  and  put  more  silver  on.  As  gold  col- 
lects, this  green  will  disappear. 

"  It  is  best  not  to  touch  the  plates  until  you  are  through  your 
working,  unless,  as  I  said  before,  they  become  dirty — too  heav- 
ily charged,  and  the  gold  is  unsafe  to  leave.  It  is  an  attested 
fact,  well  understood  by  all  workers  in  gold,  that  nothing 
catches  it  and  returns  it  better  than  amalgam." 
6 


138  HAND-BOOK    OF    MIXING. 

Sometimes  transverse  blocks  of  wood  are  used  for  riffles. 
They  are  cut  across  the  grain,  from  two  to  four  inches  deep 
along  the  grain,  and  as  wide  as  the  sluice.  These  blocks  are 
wedged  into  the  sluice  boxes,  with  transverse  spaces  of  an  inch 
or  two  between  them. 

Another  device  is,  to  fill  the  pores  of  such  blocks  with  quick- 
silver. This  is  done  with  an  iron  cylinder,  with  a  sharp  edge, 
which  is  driven  into  the  block  a  little  way  and  then  the  quick- 
silver is  forced  down  through  the  cylinder  into  the  wood. 

Some  dirt  (called  cement)  is  so  tough  that  it  cannot  be  dis- 
solved by  running  once  through  a  sluice,  nor  even  by  running 
through  twice;  so  they  save  the  tailings,  and  after  leaving 
them  exposed  to  the  air  for  a  while,  wash  them — in  all,  three 
times.  The  third  time  completely  dissolves  the  hardest  dirt. 

The  Kock  Sluice.  \  114.  The  "  rock  sluice,"  or  cobble- 
stone bottom,  is  the  best  of  all  in  places  where  it  can  be  used 
to  advantage.  It  wants  a  steep  grade,  a  large  body  of  water, 
and  a  wide  sluice  box.  Mr.  B.  P.  Avery  wrote  thus  of  the 
rock  sluice  for  the  San  Juan  Press  : 

11  One  of  the  latest  improvements  in  mining  is  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  rock  sluice.  The  hydraulic  power,  well  directed, 
tears  down  and  washes  off  the  auriferous  earth  with  all  the 
power  and  effect  of  natural  forces  directed  by  reason ;  while 
the  blocks  and  riffles  lining  the  sluice  boxes,  through  which 
the  dissolved  dirt  is  conveyed,  are  only  cunning  substitutes  for 
the  gravel  beds  of  natural  water  courses.  These  same  gravel 
beds  are  now  more  closely  imitated  by  lining  the  bottoms  with 
cobble-stones,  lapped  one  over  another  in  regular  layers,  and 
inclining  down  stream.  This  idea  was  ci'udely  adopted  several 
years  ago,  rocks  being  piled  irregularly  in  the  sluices,  and 
there  allowed  to  remain  for  an  indefinite  time.  The  plan,  now, 
is  so  systematized  as  to  be  really  valuable.  Every  section  of 
sluice,  or  each  box  fourteen  feet  long,  is  regularly  paved  as 
above  described,  the  stones  held  firmly  down  by  nailing  strips 
of  board,  five  and  a  half  inches  wide,  on  each  side  of  the  box, 
and  wedging  a  cross-piece  under  these  strips  at  the  end  of  each 
box.  As  soon  as  the  dirt  and  water  have  been  allowed  to 
flow  over  the  gravel  bottom,  it  becomes  immovable,  as  though 
set  in  mortar.  The  paving  can  be  rapidly  accomplished,  one 
man  being  able  to  finish,  in  a  day,  twenty-five  boxes,  fourteen 
feet  long-  and  thirty  inches  wide  each.  The  material  lies  at 


MODES   OF    PLACER   MINING.  139 

hand  in  nearly  every  mining  claim,  and  costs  nothing  but  the 
labor  of  appropriation  and  selection. 

"  The  advantages  of  rock  sluices  may  be  briefly  stated. 
Those  who  have  had  long  expeeience  with  them,  assert  posi- 
tively that  they  save  more  gold  than  any  other  sluices  in  use, 
and  a  kind  of  gold  which  no  other  sluices  save  at  all.  Mr. 
Welch,  of  Indian  Hill,  Sierra  county,  who  has  2,300  feet  of 
rock  sluice  leading  from  his  claims,  declares  that  he  saves 
twenty  per  cent,  more  gold  than  he  ever  did  before,  out  of  the 
same  dirt.  He«has  thoroughly  tested  the  matter  by  having 
alternate  sections  of  rock  and  block  sluice,  and  invariably  ob- 
tained most  gold  from  the  former.  He,  as  well  as  others,  has 
observed  that  the  rock  sluices  save  the  most  fine  gold,  the 
almost  impalpable  powder  of  the  precious  metal,  which  is  gen- 
erally lost.  For  the  same  reason  that  more  gold  is  saved,  less 
quicksilver  is  lost. 

"  The  rock  sluices  also  effect  a  great  economy  of  lumber. 
All  other  sluices  are  lined  with  blocks  of  wood  about  three 
inches  thick,  the  cost  of  which,  for  each  section  fourteen  feet 
long  and  thirty  inches  wide,  is  four  or  five  dollars.  These 
blocks  have  to  be  frequently  renewed,  owing  to  the  great 
friction  of  rocks,  earth  and  water  running  over  them.  In  some 
instances,  they  will  not  outlast  twenty  days  of  washing.  This 
was  the  case  in  the  claims  of  Mr.  Welch,  where  the  saving 
effected  by  discarding  blocks  amounts  to  a  very  large  sum.  In 
his  2,300  feet  of  sluice  there  are,  say  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
four  boxes,  that  would  require  new  blocks  every  twenty  days  ; 
in  three  hundred  days,  each  box  would  cost,  at  four  dollars 'for 
every  new  lining,  sixty  dollars  ;  and  the  expense  of  the  entire 
sluice  for  the  same  period  would  be  $9,840.  In  the  Ken- 
tucky claims,  at  Sweetland — where  may  be  seen  a  vfcry  hand- 
some specimen  of  rock  sluice — the  saving  on  the  blocks  for 
sixteen  boxes,  at  four  dollars  each,  amounts  to  about  sixty-four 
dollars  every  forty  days  that  washing  is  done.  Here,  then, 
without  reference  to  the  superiority  of  rock  bottoms  as  a  gold- 
1  saver,  is  effected  an  economy  that  would  alone  render  many 
unprofitable  claims  sources  of  income  to  their  owners.  One 
more  recommendation  of  rock  sluices  is  found  in  the  fact  that 
they  offer  fewer  facilities  for  robbery.  Thieves  can  help  them- 
selves in  block  sluices  by  simply  scooping  up  the  amalgam,  as 
it  lies  in  narrow  crevices  between  the  blocks ;  but  here  it  is 
buried  in  sand,  among  stones  hard  to  remove,  and  needing  to 
•be  washed. 


140  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

"  Rock  sluices  are  constructed  upon  a  grade  of  from  fourteen 
to  sixteen  inches  for  every  fourteen  feet,  the  heaviest  dirt,  or 
that  which  flows  with  least  freedom,  requiring  the  most  grade. 
They  cannot,  ordinarily,  be  laid  through  tunnels,  because  these 
have  to  be  run  on  as  light  a  grade  as  possible — say  one  inch 
to  the  foot — and  block  sluices  are  used  in  them,  as  offering  the 
least  impediment  to  the  flow  of  rocks  and  dirt.  Their  prime 
value  is  to  receive  the  '  tailings  '  at  the  mouth  of  tunnels,  and 
convey  them  for  long  distances  down  hill-sides.  The  boxes  are, 
usually,  thirty  inches  deep,  and  thirty  inchfe  wide,  a  greater 
width  being  obtained  sometimes  by  constructing  parallel 
lengths  with  a  low  partition.  Flat,  oval-shaped  rocks,  the  size 
of  a  man's  hand,  only  thicker,  and  as  hard  as  possible,  are 
selected  for  the  bottoms.  When  the  miner  wishes  to  clean  up, 
say  after  washing  ten  or  twenty  days,  the  stones  are  loosened 
with  a  pick,  washed  off  by  allowing  ten  or  twenty  inches  of 
water  to  flow  through  them,  and  then  laid  out  until  the  boxes 
are  washed  down  and  cleaned  of  their  golden  gatherings.  The 
whole  process  is  simple,  economical,  and  worthy  of  trial  by 
every  miner." 

The  Tail-Sluice.  §  115.  The  "  tail-sluice  "  is  a  sluice 
to  wash  tailings.  It  is  a  very  large  sluice,  is  almost  invariably 
paved  with  cobble-stones,  and  is  allowed  to  run  for  months 
without  cleaning  up.  It  is  put  down  in  the  bed  of  a  creek, 
and  the  owners  do  little  or  no  work  at  it  from  the  commence- 
ment of  the  run  until  they  clean  up.  Some  of  the  most  notable 
tail-sluices  in  the  State  are  at  Sweetland,  Nevada.  Mr.  Avery 
thus  wrote  of  one  at  that  place  : 

"  The  flume  is  laid  along  the  bed  of  the  creek,  below  the 
town  of  Sweetland.  It  is  constructed  of  inch  and  a  half  and 
inch  and  a  quarter  lumber ;  consists  of  two  parallel  sets  of 
boxes,  which  are  laid  snugly  side  by  side,  and  each  of  which 
is  four  and  a  half  feet  wide  by  two  and  a  half  deep,  making  a 
total  width  of  nine  feet ;  supported  on  heavy  posts  and 
stringers,  and  banked  in  solidly  on  either  side  by  gravel,  which 
has  been  allowed  to  rise  to  a  level  with  the  flume,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  anchoring  it,  by  means  of  dams  here  and  there.  The 
total  length  of  flume  is  about  1 ,500  feet,  600  feet  of  which  are 
laid  through  a  tunnel  which  pierces  a  point  of  land,  thus  saving 
a  considerable  distance,  and  the  total  cost  is  stated  at  from 
$12;000  to  $14.000.  At  one  place,  a  point  of  land  has  been 


MODES   OF   PLACER    MINING.  141 

cut  down  and  washed  off,  revealing  indisputable  evidences  of  a 
slide  at  some  remote  period.  Large  cedars  were  found  entire, 
under  the  mass  of  rock  and  earth,  and  on  being  chopped,  proved 
to  be  in  a  tolerably  sound  condition,  though  in  the  first  stages 
of  that  transformation  which  converts  them,  under  the  influence, 
doubtless,  of  sulphurous  acid  and  iron,  into  a  black  mass,  re- 
sembling charcoal,  and  which  curls  up  in  dry,  smooth  chips  on 
being  exposed  to  the  air.  The  face  of  the  excavation  is  veined 
with  oxide  of  iron,  which  colors  the  soil  except  toward  the 
bed-rock — consisting  of  slate — where  it  is  of  a  bluish  lead 
color,  heavily  impregnated  with  sulphuret  of  iron,  and  giving 
off,  on  exposure,  the  peculiar  offensive  odor  of  sulphureted 
hydrogen. 

"  On  the  surface  of  this  slide  are  growing  larger  trees  than 
are  buried  beneath  it.  The  fallen  mass  was  evidently  once 
supported  on  the  brow  of  the  ridge  above  by  a  projecting  cliff 
of  slate  and  mica  schist,  huge  fragments  of  which  are  seen  in 
the  slide,  and  lying  above  the  buried  cedars.  But  we  are 
digressing  from  the  subject  of  the  flume.  The  last  section  of 
it  is  laid  at  the  base  of  a  perpendicular  cliff  of  rock,  close  to 
the  river  bank.  This  cliff  is  at  least  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  feet  high,  and  its  summit  has  been  worn  in  twenty  feet  by 
the  action  of  the  water,  leaving  a  half  circle,  the  two  points  of 
which  hold  in  their  grasp  an  immense  boulder,  behind  which, 
as  into  a  huge  vessel,  leaps  the  roaring  cataract  of  chocolate- 
colored  water  and  stones,  sending  forth  its  muddy  spray  and 
icy  breath  as  it  leaps,  and  at  one  plunge  striking  the  worn  and 
slimy  granite  below. 

"  Bweetland  Creek  receives  the  tailings  of  a  large  number  of 
claims.  These  tailings  lie  along  its  channel  for  a  distance  of 
more  than  a  mile,  and  are  fifty  feet  deep  in  places,  having  half 
swallowed  up  the  trees  which  stand  in  the  bottom,  and  de- 
prived them  of  their  vitality." 

The  Ground  Sluice.  \  116.  The  "  ground  sluice  "  is 
not  made  of  boards,  but  is  a  ditch  cut  in  the  mining  ground. 
It  is  used  where  the  dirt  is  too  poor  to  pay  for  washing  with  a 
board  sluice,  and  sometimes  because  the  surface  is  too  steep  to 
use  a  board  sluice  conveniently.  The  ground  sluice  can  only 
be  applied  where  the  water  can  have  a  rapid  descent.  Some- 
times the  ditch  is  cut  to  the  bed-rock  before  turning  in  the 
water  ;  sometimes  it  does  not  go  to  the  bed-rock  at  all ;  some- 


142  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

times  the  water  is  used  to  wash  away  the  dirt  down  to  the 
rock.  The  water  having  started,  the  miners  commence  to 
throw  in  the  dirt.  The  water  is  in  a  deep  gully,  and  the  miners 
pry  off  great  masses  of  earth  from  the  banks,  and  let  them 
fall  down  into  the  ditch.  A  sluice  fork  is  used  to  remove 
stones  from  the  bed  of  the  ground  sluice,  but  some  stones  are 
always  left  to  catch  the  gold.  A  run  in  a  ground  sluice  lasts 
for  several  weeks  or  months.  A  board  sluice  or  a  torn  is  used 
for  cleaning  up.  The  ground  sluice  or  its  principle  has  been 
applied  for  various  purposes.  Part  of  the  cutting  of  the 
Sacramento  Valley  Railroad  was  done  with  a  sluice,  and  the 
ground,  being  auriferous,  paid  for  the  labor.  In  Forest  City, 
the  deep  snows  which  fall  there  are  sluiced  out  of  the  streets, 
and  in  Placerville  they  have  cleaned  the  streets  of  mud  on  the 
sluice  principle. 

The  Sluice  Tunnel.  §117.  The  name  of  "tunnel 
sluice  "  has  sometimes  been  applied  to  a  tunnel  cut  to  be  used 
as  a  sluice,  but  the  more  proper  name  is  a  "sluice  tunnel." 
The  following  is  a  newspaper  description  of  a  sluice  tunnel  in 
Tuba  county : 

"  North  of  Camptonville,  about  three-fourths  of  a  mile, 
there  is  a  basin  formed  by  a  circle  of  hills,  which  yields,  dur- 
ing the  continuance  of  water,  above  average  wages.  When 
this  was  discovered,  it  was  apparent  that  mining  could  not  be 
prosecuted  there  unless  there  was  some  outlet  found  or  formed 
through  which  tailings  could  be  carried  off.  On  learning  this, 
a  company  of  eight  miners,  called  the  Ravine  Company,  offered 
to  push  a  tunnel  through  the  hill,  so  that  the  tailings  might  be 
washed  directly  down  to  Oregon  creek,  which  runs  at  the  foot 
of  the  outside  hillf?  that  form  the  basin,  provided  the  tailings 
should  be  given  them  for  the  work.  This  being  agreed  to, 
work  was  commenced  in  May,  1855,  and  continued  until  Jan- 
uary 1st,  1857,  when  the  last  blast  was  fired  and  the  tunnel 
completed.  The  tunnel  proper  is  run  through  solid  bed-rock  ; 
that  is,  until  exposed  to  the  air  and  sun,  almost  as  hard  as  flint, 
and  is  1,250  feet  long,  five  feet  wide  and  six  feet  highland  has 
a  fall  of  forty-three  feet.  The  expense  of  running  it  was  some- 
thing over  $20,000.  The  tunnel  and  branches  that  were  run 
into  the  hill  for  the  purpose  of  prospecting  the  ground,  make 
in  length  one  and  a  quarter  miles,  and  all  in  the  bed-rock.  Fif- 
teen companies,  with  an  average  of  twenty-five  pipes,  making 


MODES   OF   PLACER   MINING.  143 

eight  hundred  inches  of  water  per  day,  run  their  tailings 
through  this  sluice,  which  yields  to  the  Ravine  Company  an 
average  of  $1,200  per  week  for  six  or  seven  months  in  the 
year.  Besides  the  tunnel,  the  company  own  thirty-five  claims 
of  seventy-five  feet  square  on  the  hill.  These  are  worked  on 
the  hydraulic  principle,  but  it  is  difficult  to  judge  what  the 
claims  pay.  It  is  probable  that  it  will  take  from  five  to  eight 
years  to  work  out  the  gravel  in  these  hills,  and  fifteen  years  to 
work  the  gold  entirely  out,  as  the  bed-rock  will  be  washed  up 
to  the  depth  of  four  or  six  feet  as  wages  decrease.  The  bed- 
rock, on  exposure  to  the  sun,  becomes  almost  as  soft  as  clay, 
notwithstanding  its  extreme  hardness  in  the  bed,  and  would 
pay  about  two  dollars  per  ^day  by  washing  the  crust  or  upper 
layer,  but  on  descending  it*  becomes  poorer,  until  at  last  it  is 
worthless.  The  Ravine  Company's  tunnel  is  one  of  the  finest 
in  that  section  of  the  country." 

The  Under-Current  Sluice.  §  118.  The  "under- 
current sluice "  is  another  variation  from  the  simple  sluice. 
Mr.  R.  Dunning,  who  claims  to  be  the  inventor  of  it,  gives  the 
following  description  of  it  and  exposition  of  its  merits  : 

"  By  means  of  two  or  more  iron  bars  at  the  termination  of 
a  section  of  sluice  boxes,  forming  a  right-angle  grating,  a  por- 
tion of  the  dissolved  earth,  fine  gravel  and  water  is  separated 
from  the  lumps  of  hard  earth,  cobble  stones  and  gravel,  and 
drops  into  a  set  of  more  gently  graded  sluice  boxes  beneath, 
when  they  flow  slowly  off*  in  another  direction,  while  the  body 
of  water  and  coarse  material  dashes  down  a  *  dump '  or  '  fall/ 
to  be  again  taken  up  in  sluices  with  the  tailings  from  the  under- 
current, and  subjected  anew  to  separation. 

"  This  process  insures  a  more  thorough  amalgamation  and 
saving  of  the  particles  of  gold,  the  most  of  which  drop  through 
jthe  grating  into  the  under-current,  where,  being  subject  to  a 
less  violent  motion,  and  passing  through  a  greater  variety  of 
riffles,  they  are  more  likely  to  be  finally  arrested.  It  effects  a 
large  saving  of  rusty  gold,  which  will  not  readily  amalgamate. 
It  gives  more  opportunity  for  saving  gold  in  a  short  distance, 
and  to  scour  cement  without  loss  of  tailings  and  grade. 

"  On  hill-sides,  where  there  is  abundance  of  space,  it  is  a  val- 
uable adjunct  to  tail-sluices  :  where  the  latter  terminate  at  the 
river's  edge,  and  would  otherwise  discharge  all  of  their  con- 
tents into  the  stream,  the  under-current  can  be  made  to  receive 


144  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

the  best  portion  of  the  tailings,  and  convey  them  for  any  dis- 
tance along  the  bank. 

"  The  immense  friction  of  rolling  rocks  being  removed,  the 
under-current  effects  a  saving  in  false  bottoms  of  about  seventy- 
five  per  cent. 

"  At  San  Juan  Hill,  Nevada  county,  where  this  invention 
was  first  introduced,  and  is  now  extensively  used,  it  is  consid- 
ered a  valuable  improvement — saving  both  gold  and  quicksil- 
ver in  much  larger  proportion  than  the  ordinary  sluice  with- 
out it. 

"  The  saving  effected  from  tailings  in  one  instance  is  equal  to 
twenty-five  per  cent.,  and  might  be  increased ;  the  amount  of 
economy,  of  course,  depending  upon  the  extent  to  which  the 
under-current  is  employed." 

Hydraulic  Mining,  g  119.  "Hydraulic  mining"  is 
that  mining  where  a  stream  of  water,  led  down  from  a  consid- 
erable elevation  through  a  hose,  is  thrown  by  the  pressure  with 
great  force  upon  the  dirt,  which  is  thus  loosened,  dissolved  and 
washed  down  into  the  sluice.  The  hydraulic  power  is  used  to 
save  digging  with  shovels,  to  remove  the  dirt  and  dissolve  it 
more  quickly  than  could  be  done  in  a  sluice.  "  Hydraulic  min- 
ing," as  it  is  called,  is  not  a  process  of  washing  dirt,  but  of 
preparing  it  for  washing.  The  dirt  of  all  hydraulic  claims  is 
washed  in  sluices.  The  force  of  the  hydraulic  stream,  some- 
times under  a  pressure  of  two  hundred  perpendicular  feet  of 
water,  is  so  great  that,  if  it  should  strike  a  man,  it  would  kill 
him  instantly  ;  and  striking  a  bank  of  dirt,  it  tears  it  down 
more  rapidly  than  could  two  hundred  men  with  picks  and 
shovels.  The  hydraulic  can  be  used  to  advantage,  only,  where 
there  are  deep  placer  diggings,  with  a  channel  to  lead  away 
-the  water  from  the  bottom  of  the  claim,  and  where  an  abun- 
dant supply  of  water  can  be  obtained  at  the  surface  of  the% 
claim.  In  such  places,  a  reservoir  for  water,  sometimes  not 
containing  more  than  a  hundred  gallons,  is  placed  at  the  top 
of  the  claim,  and  a  hose  of  heavy  cotton  or  linen  duck  leads 
from  the  reservoir  to  the  bottom,  where  the  water  is  thrown 
from  the  pipe  against  the  earth,  near  the  bed-rock,  and  that 
being  washed  away,  the  bank  above  comes  tumbling  down  in 
great  masses,  sometimes  hundreds  of  tons  at  once.  The  stream 
of  water  not  only  tears  down"  the  bank,  and  carries  it  to  the 
sluice,  but  dissolves  much  of  the  dirt  before  it  enters  the 


MODES   OF   PLACEE   MINING.  145 

sluice.  The  amount  of  dirt  that  can  be  washed  with  a  hy- 
draulic depends  greatly  on  circumstances,  such  as  the  amount 
of  water,  the  fall,  the  character  of  the  dirt,  and  the  season. 
In  winter,  more  dirt  can  be  washed  than  in  summer  ;  because 
the  earth  is  then  wet  through,  and  dissolves  much  more  readily. 
Tough  clay  is  very  stubborn ;  sometimes  lumps  of  it,  a  foot 
or  even  two  feet  in  diameter,  will  roll  through  the  sluice,  car- 
rying off  much  gold  and  amalgam,  which  they  have  rolled 
over  and  caught  in  their  course.  Large  boulders,  in  some 
claims,  interfere  greatly  with  the  progress  of  washing  ;  these 
cannot  be  laid  to  one  side,  but  must  usually  be  sent  down 
the  sluice,  either  entire  or  in  pieces,  after  being  broken  up  with 
hammers.  The  amount  of  water  used  in  a  hydraulic  claim,  is 
from  forty  to  three  hundred  inches. 

Hydraulic  miners  have  had  much  difficulty  with  their  hose  ; 
for  the  strongest  duck  and  leather  would  not  hold  more  than 
about  eighty  perpendicular  feet  of  water,  and  would  be  worn 
out  after  a  few  months  of  use.  The  latest  mining  invention, 
called  the  "  crinoline  hose,"  is  to  surround  the  hose  with  gal- 
vanized iron  bands,  which  are  about  two  inches  wide,  and 
from  one  to  three  inches  apart.  These  bands  are  connected 
together  by  four  ropes,  which  run  longitudinally  from  one 
band  to  another.  The  crinoline  hose  will  support  a  head  of 
water  more  than  twice  as  high  as  that  of  a  common  hose. 

A  friend  of  mine  who  has  a  hydraulic  claim  in  Placer 
county,  washes  about  twenty  feet,  cubic,  in  twenty-four  hours, 
with  a  hundred  and  fifty  inches,  and  six  men,  running  day  and 
night,  with  three  men  at  work  at  a  time.  His  dirt  is  of  about 
medium  character,  in  regard  to  difficulty  of  washing,  and  he 
has  no  stones  or  boulders  too  large  to  pass  entire  through  his 
sluice.  Welsh  &  Co.  "piped  off/'  at  Indian  Hill,  Sierra 
county,  a  piece  of  ground  forty  feet  wide  by  eighty  feet  long,  in 
six  days,  using  two  hundred  inches  of  water,  and  employing 
ten  men.  They  paid  four  dollars  per  pay  to  their  workmen, 
making  two  hundred  and  forty  dollars  of  wages ;  'three  hun- 
dred for  water,  at  twenty-five  cents  per  inch  ;  and,  perhaps,  one 
hundred  dollars  more,  for  waste  of  quicksilver,  wear  of  sluices, 
etc.,  making  a  total  expense  of  six  hundred  and  forty  dollars. 
They  obtained  $3,000  in  gold  dust,  leaving  a  profit  of  $2,350, 
for  the  week's  work.  The  amount  of  dirt  washed  having 
been  224,000  cubic  feet,  and  the  gold  yield  $3,000,  we  know 
that  there  was  an  average  of  a  cent  and  a  fifth  in  every  cubic 


146  HAND-BOOK   OF    MINING. 

foot ;  and  as  the  claim  would  have  been  profitable,  if  there 
were  much  dirt  in  it,  at  half  the  amount  which  it  did  yield,  we 
may  infer  that  hydraulic  claims,  favorably  situated,  and  con- 
taining dirt  easy  "to  wash,  will  pay  if  there  be  six-tenths  of  a 
cent  in  a  cubic  foot  of  dirt.  In  1849,  miners  would  not  wash 
dirt  with  a  rocker,  unless  it  contained  a  bit,  (twelve  cents)  to 
the  pan,  which  would  contain  about  half  a  cubic  foot  of  dirt. 
Hydraulic  miners  say  that  dirt  containing  a  "  color  "  to  the 
pan  will  pay — that  is  if  one  speck  of  gold,  no  matter  how 
small,  can  be  found,  on  an  average,  in  every  pan,  the  claim  is 
worth  working.  Some  claims,  in  which  "  a  color  "  could  be 
obtained  only  once  in  five  or  six  pans,  have  paid  well.  The 
hydraulic  miners  would  always  like  to  work  their  claims  to  the 
bed-rock ;  for  ordinarily  the  dirt  at  the  bottom  is  the  richest  ; 
but  sometimes,  for  want  of  a  channel  to  carry  off  their  tail- 
ings, they  cannot  get  within  a  hundred  or  two  hundred  feet  of 
the  bed-rock. 

Tunnel  Mining.  §120.  The  tunnel  occupies  an  im- 
portant place  in  the  placer  mining  of  California.  The  word, 
according  to  the  general  usage  of  our  language,  as  explained 
by  Worcester,  means  a  "  subterranean  passage  for  a  canal  or 
road,"  running  through  a  piece  of  ground,  from  daylight  to 
daylight.  But  in  California  usage,  a  mining  tunnel  is  an  adit 
or" entrance  nearly  horizontal  to  a  mine,  or  a  horizontal  drift, 
carried  out  from  a  shaft.  Mining  tunnels  run  into  hills  and 
mountains,  not  through  them.  They  usually  have  a  slight  in- 
clination upwards  as  they  enter  the  hill ;  for  the  double  purpose 
of  drainage  and  facilitating  the  hauling  out  of  the  dirt.  The 
length  varies  from  fifty  feet  to  a  mile ;  the  cost,  from  two  dol- 
lars to  forty  dollars  per  foot.  In  some  places,  the  rock  is  hard 
enough  to  keep  in  position  without  support;  but  usually 
wooden  supporters  are  used  to  keep  the  dirt  overhead  from 
falling  in,  and  sometimes  the  sides  must  be  boarded  up.  Tun- 
nels are  from  three  to  six  feet  wide,  and  from  five  to  seven  feet 
high. 

Tunnels  are  always,  or  with  very  rare  exceptions,  made  by 
companies,  usually  numbering  eight  or  ten  men.  They  claim 
a  large  amount  of  mining  ground,  and  have  one  entrance  to  it. 
Only  two  or  three  men  can  work  in  digging  a  tunnel,  at  a  time, 
to  advantage  ;  one  to  dig  dirt ;  another  or  two  to  take  it  out. 
For  one  hundred  or  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  a  wheelbarrow 


MODES    OP    PLACER   MINING.  147 

is  used  to  remove  the  dirt ;  after  that,  a  wooden  tram-way  is 
laid  down,  and  a  car  is  used.  Two  men  may  be  engaged  in 
hauling  out  the  dirt,  each  with  a  car.  In  such  case,  there  are 
switches  where  the  empty  car  can  turn  out  to  let  the  loaded 
car  pass.  Work  in  a  tunnel  is  as  pleasant  by  night  as  by  day  ; 
and  it  is  very  common  to  employ  relays  of  men  in  tunnels. 
Sometimes  there  are  two  sets  of  hands,  to  work  twelve  hours 
each  ;  sometimes,  three  sets,  eight  hours  each.  Frequently 
tunnel  companies — and  the  same  may  be  said  of  nearly  all 
other  companies  engaged  in  placer  mining — are  made  up, 
partly  of  merchants,  physicians  or  lawyers,  and  partly  of  labor- 
ers. The  latter  do  the  manual  labor,  and  the  former  supply 
them  with  tools,  provisions  and  some  cash.  The  laborers  are 
under  the  control  of  a  superintendent,  who  treats  all  the  work- 
men as  if  they  were  hired  hands  ;  but  he  must  give  employ- 
ment to  members  of  the  company  desiring  it,  in  preference  to 
outsiders.  On  any  other  system,  such  companies  would  soon 
break  up.  Sometimes  two  companies,  driving  adjacent  tun- 
nel claims,  unite  to  dig  one  tunnel,  through  which  they  can 
both  send  their  dirt  out  to  be  washed.  Once  having  reached 
the  pay-dirt,  a  surveyor  is  called,  and  he  marks  out  the  line  of 
their  claims,  and  a  drift  is  usually  run  by  the  compass  along 
the  dividing  line.  The  dirt  from  this  drift  is  washed,  on  joint 
account ;  and  from  that  time  forward,  each  company  knows 
where  its  dirt  lies ;  each  keeping  on  its  own  side  of  the  drift. 
A  joint  tunnel  for  two  claims  is  usually  cut  along  the  divid- 
ing line.  Both  companies  use  the  same  main  tram-way  for 
hauling  out  their  dirt.  They  may  also  have  a  joint  sluice, 
each  using  it  for  a  couple  of  days,  and  cleaning  up  carefully  at 
the  end  of  that  period.  A  sluice  will,  in  one  day,  wash  all  the 
dirt  obtained  in  six  or  eight ;  so  that  there  is  little  inconven- 
ience about  a  joint-stock  sluice,  while  much  expense  in  sluice- 
boxes  and  water  may  be  saved.  In  such  case,  each  company 
has  a  bin  or  platform  on  its  side  of  the  mouth  of  the  tunnel, 
where  the  pay-dirt  is  thrown  until  the  proper  time  for  wash- 
ing. The  barren  dirt,  and  stones  dug  in  the  tunnel,  are  often 
put  into  the  drifts  to  support  them,  and  protect  them  from 
caving  in. 

After  the  pay-dirt  has  been  reached,  the  work  is   called 
"  drifting,"  and  numerous  posts  are  required  to  support  the 
roof.     Sometimes  pillars  of  the  pay-dirt  are  left. 
.  Many  tunnels  furnish  enough  water  to  wash  their  dirt. 


148  HAND-BOOK   OP    MINING. 

In  places  where  the  tunnel  has  to  be  blasted,  the  expense  is 
from  twenty  dollars  to  forty  dollars  per  foot.  Two  men  will 
blast  from  five  to  thirty  inches  per  day. 

In  earth  or  soft  rock  the  expense  is  from  two  to  ten  dollars 
per  foot. 

Shaft  Mining,  g  121.  Shafts  are  not  much  used  by 
placer  miners,  in  California  ;  but  they  are  occasionally  neces- 
sary to  get  access  to  deep  claims,  where  neither  the  hydraulic 
process  nor  the  tunnel  is  applicable.  These  two  have  great 
advantages  over  the  shaft,  which  is  a  perpendicular  hole,  from 
four  to  six  feet  in  diameter  and  fifteen  feet  deep,  or  more. 
The  hole  is  dug  by  one  man,  arid  usually  the  dirt  is  hoisted  by 
one  or  two  others,  using  a  windlass  and  a  bucket  or  tub. 
When  the  depth  is  great,  a  horse  is  frequently  used  for  hoist- 
ing. The  deepest  shaft  in  the  State  is  more  than  six  hundred 
feet ;  but  there  is  probably  no  shaft,  now7  us  >d  for  placer  min- 
ing, more  than  two  hundred  feet  deep.  The  pay-dirt  having 
been  reached,  the  miner  "  drifts  "  sideways  from  the  shaft,  and 
supports  the  dirt  overhead  with  posts.  The  pay-dirt  is  all 
hoisted  up  in  buckets,  and  must  be  extremely  rich  to  pay  for 
this  slow  work,  as  well  as  for  the  sinking  of  the  shaft. 

Shafts  are,  perhaps,  more  frequently  used  in  prospecting 
than  in  mining.  For  instance,  when  it  is  known  that  a  hill 
contains  in  its  center  a  deposit  of  rich  dirt,  a  shaft  is  sunk 
from  the  top  to  ascertain  the  depth  of  the  deposit ;  so  that  a 
tunnel  may  be  commenced  at  the  right  level.  Ordinarily,  the 
tunnel  will  have  to  go  farther  than  the  shaft ;  and  sometimes 
through  hard  rock ;  and  it  will  be  useless,  if  too  high  or  too 
low  ;  whereas,  the  shaft  runs  only  through  dirt,  in  placer  dig- 
gings, and  is  in  such  cases  much  cheaper.  Sometimes,  too, 
the  shaft  is  dug  to  ascertain  whether  there  is  any  gold  in  a 
hill  or  flat,  where  it  is  proposed  to  use  the  hydraulic  process. 

The  artesian  well  auger  has  been  used  on  several  occasions  for 
prospecting.  It  is  far  cheaper  to  bore  an  artesian  hole,  than  to 
sink  a  shaft ;  and  in  many  places  it  would  do  as  much  good  in 
ascertaining  the  depth  at  which  various  strata  lie  from  the 
surface.  There  is  the  objection,  however,  that  the  artesian 
auger  makes  only  a  small  bore,  and  brings  up  little  dirt,  in 
which  gold  might  not  be  discovered,  even  though  there  were 
enough  to  pay  richly.  Gold  was  discovered  in  the  dirt  taken 
from  an  artesian  well,  in  San  Francisco,  one  hundred  feet,  and 
in  a  well,  in  Stockton,  eighty  feet  below  the  surface. 


MODES   OF   PLACER   MINING.  149 

River  Mining.  1 122.  Kiver  mining,  or  mining  in 
river  beds,  differs  from  mining  in  hills,  flats  and  ravines,  be- 
cause of  the  different  nature  of  the  ground.  Before  the  pay- 
dirt  can  be  reached,  the  water  must  be  turned  from  its  coarse 
and  bed  away  in  a  ditch  or  flume,  or  confined  to  one  side  of 
its  bed  by  a  wing-dam.  Ditches  are  very  rarely  used,  because 
of  the  very  steep,  rough  and  rocky  character  of  the  river 
banks,  in  the  mining  districts  ;  so,  usually,  a  flume  is  resorted 
to.  The  river  is  dammed  above  the  place  supposed  to  be  rich, 
and  a  flume  is  built  to  carry  the  water  the  length  of  the  claim, 
at  least.  A  river  is  seldom  flumed  for  a  less  distance  than 
three  hundred  yards.  A  wooden  flume,  with  bottom  and  sides 
of  plank,  and  a  regular  descent,  ten  feet  wide  and  three  feet 
deep  will  carry  all  the  water  of  a  large  river,  in  the  dry  season. 
The  dam,  however,  will  always  leak  a  little,  and  so  will  the 
flume ;  and,  therefore,  the  claim  will  not  be  dry  enough  to 
work  without  some  pumping.  This  is  done  with  rough  board 
pumps,  driven  by  water  wheels,  which  are  placed  across  the 
flume,  as  long  as  it  is  wide.  These  wheels  have  a  shaft  run- 
ning out  to  the  pumps,  and  driving  them.  The  dirt  is  washed 
in  sluices,  supplied  with  water  from  the  flume.  Large  stones 
and  boulders  are  frequently  found  in  the  beds  of  rivers,  as  well 
as  on  the  bars ;  and  these  must  be  removed  ;  for  under  them 
the  dirt  is  usually  richer  than  elsewhere.  Derricks  are  used 
for  their  removal.  The  dams  are  made  with  brush,  stones  and- 
dirt.  The  construction  of  the  dams  and  flumes  is  usually  com- 
menced about  the  middle  of  June,  or  first  of  July,  when  the 
high  water,  caused  by  the  rains  of  the  winter  and  the  melting 
of  the  snows  high  up  in  the  Sierra,  has  gone  down  for  the 
season.  River  mining  in  California  closes  with  the  first  heavy 
rain  of  the  rainy  season,  which  carries  away  dam  and  flume, 
and  fills  the  flume  with  stones  and  barren  dust.  This  rain 
may  come  in  the  beginning  of  November  ;  but  it  is  not  ex- 
pected before  the  middle  of  December.  There  are,  therefore, 
nearly  six  months  of  the  year  in  which  river  mining  may  be 
done.  In  many  places,  a  wing-dam  which  runs  half  way  across 
the  stream,  and  then  down  with  the  middle  of  the  bed,  is 
cheaper  and  better  than  a  flume. 


Mr.  Capp,  writing  in  the  Bulletin  of  this  kind  of  mining, 

vs  : 

"  These  are  always  joint  stock  operations,  large  numbers  of 


savs  : 


150  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

miners  engaging  in  them.  The  length  of  time  after  the  melting 
of  the  snows  in  the  surrounding  mountains,  during  which  the 
rivers  are  at  a  stage  low  enough  to  permit  their  being  worked, 
varies  according  to  the  dry  ness  of  the  season,  from  six  to  eight 
or  ten  weeks.  ^The  expense  of  grading  and  building  the  flume 
out  of  lumber,  and  also  for  pumping  machinery,  and  the  hands 
required  to  strip  off  the  light  sand,  is  very  heavy.  Yet  all  this 
has  to  be  done  before  any  of  the  gold  can  be  reached.  A 
sudden  rain  storm  and  freshet,  or  the  setting  in  of  the  rainy 
season  earlier  than  was  expected,  may  bring  down  a  body  of 
water  which,  in  a  single  hour,  may  break  their  dam,  carry 
away  their  flume,  and  wash  off  every  vestige  of  their  whole 
summer's  work.  Or,  if  the  season  is  favorable,  they  may  find 
after  long  labor  that  their  excavations  have  been  made  in  the 
wrong  parts  of  their  claim  ;  and  just  as  they  reach  the  lead,  the 
water  may  be  upon  them,  and  the  Reason  ended.  This  is  itself 
a  small  success,  for  the  next  year,  without  useless  work,  they 
may  at  once  commence  operations  at  the  proper  place.  But 
in  many  places  ill-success  of  one  sort  or  another  has  attended 
them  every  year  ;  and  other  claims,  though  fairly  tested,  have 
never  paid  at  all.  On  the  other  hand,  the  yields  of  such  claims 
have  occasionally  been  enormous. 

"  Upon  a  single  stream,  within  a  distance  of  a  few  miles, 
during  the  busy  season  in  the  fall,  four  or  five  thousand  miners 
may  be  employed.  Canvas  towns,  with  stores,  express  offices, 
and  drinking  and  eating  saloons,  spring  up  like  magic,  and  are 
noisy  and  populous.  But  the  first  winter  rain  destroys  the 
whole  busy  picture.  The  flumes,  wheels  and  tools,  or  as  much 
of  them  as  is  possible,  arc  hastily  broken  up,  taken  out  of  the 
river  and  piled  upon  the  bank,  and  shortly  afterwards  sold  at 
auction,  and  the  proceeds  divided.  The  miners  pack  up  their 
things  and  hasten  to  the  gulches,  creeks  and  flats,  where  they 
have  their  winter  claims,  in  which  they  place  their  main  re- 
liance ;  and  the  store-keepers,  whisky-sellers,  gamblers  and  ex- 
pressmen hasten  to  follow  their  customers.  The  size  and  limits 
of  the  claims  are,  however,  recorded  and  well-known,  and  at  the 
next  season,  if  the  laws  have  been  observed,  each  man  and 
each  company  may  return  and  claim  and  reoccupy  its  own 
again.  The  work  upon  the  rivers  is  done  at  a  season  of  the 
year  when  many  other  kinds  of  mining  cannot  be  carried  on 
for  want  of  water ;  and  those  who  engage  in  it  are  mostly 
thrown  out  of  employment  elsewhere  at  the  time,  from  that 


MODES   OF   PLACER   MINING.  151 

reason.  Thus  the  dryer  the  season,  and  the  greater  the  number 
of  miners  thrown  out  of  employment  in  consequence  of  the  want 
of  water,  the  greater  are  the  chances  of  employment  afforded 
them  upon  the  rivers,  and  the  more  likely  are  their  labors  there 
to  be  profitable. 

"  Upon  the  whole,  this  kind  of  mining,  though  more  tempting 
than  many  others,  has  also  more  uncertainty  attached  to  it, 
and  is  regarded  as  a  sort  of  gambling,  sure  either  to  enrich  or 
ruin  those  who  engage  in  it.  It  must  also  be  confessed  that  if 
the  expenses  incurred  in  it  are  set  off  against  the  gold  actually 
obtained,  though  many  large  fortunes  have  been  made  at  it,  it 
will  not,  upon  the  whole,  appear  to  have  been  profitable.  The 
reason  of  this  is,  that  the  ,heavy  expense  incurred  during  any 
one  year  has  all  to  be  again  incurred  the  next  time  the  opera- 
tion is  attempted.  To  prevent  this  heavy  annual  outlay,  it  has 
been  proposed,  in  neighborhoods  where  these  operations  have 
been  moderately  successful,  to  build  or  dig  large  and  permanent 
canals,  so  that  each  season  very  little  expense  beyond  the  con- 
str^tion  of  the  dam  at  its  head,  will  be  necessary.  Where 
this  is  done,  fluming  operations  may  be  rendered  comparatively 
certain  and  profitable  speculations,  and  as  the  amount  of  water 
will  be  unlimited, -and  the  contents  of  the  river  beds  are  con- 
tinually enriched  by  the  tailings  thrown  into  them,  the  washing 
of  the  whole  may  prove  to  be  profitable  every  year." 

Beach  Mining.  $  123.  "Beach  mining"  is  done  on 
the  sand  beach  of  the  ocean.  The  shore  of  the  Pacific,  from 
47°,  30'  in  California,  to  50°  in  Oregon,  is  composed  of  au- 
riferous bluffs,  with  sand  beaches  at  their  base.  The  bluffs  are 
gradually  worn  away  by  the  surf,  and  their  gold,  which  is 
very  fine,  is  deposited  in  the  sand  beach  below.  This  sand  is 
very  rich  in  some  places  ;  but  the  gold  is  so  fine  that  it  can 
only  be  caught  with  the  greatest  difficulty.  The  sand  is  washed 
in  sluices  and  in  toms.  In  some  places,  where  the  beach  is 
low,  the  sand  is  covered  with  water  most  of  the  time,  and  it 
can  only  be  obtained  at  very  low  tide  and  in  still  weather. 
The  Marysville  Express  thus  described  the  mode  of  working 
practiced  by  a  company  of  miners  at  Gold  Bluff,  in  1859  : 

"  When  the  company's  watchers  discover  black  spots  on  the 
sea-coast,  they  report  to  the  company,  and  preparations  are 
immediately  made  for  work.  The  mules  are  got  ready,  with 
their  saddle-bags,  and  are  led  to  the  shore.  Men  and  mules 


152  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

thus  harnessed  are  in  waiting  for  the  surf,  which  at  times 
comes  very  swiftly,  striking  the  bluffs  with  great  force.  When 
the  waves  recede,  leaving  the  shore  uncovered,  men  and  mules 
hurry  out  and  gather  a  load  of  sand,  and  hasten  back  in  ad- 
vance of  the  breakers,  and  deposit  their  loads  at  the  wash 
house,  where  it  is  washed  in  a  long  torn.  The  gold  does  not 
come  from  the  sea,  but  from  the  bluffs,  and  is  washed  back  by 
the  surf." 

Blasting.  \  124.  Blasting  is  not  unfrequently  used  in 
placer  mining,  to  loosen  the  dirt  which  is  to  be  washed  or  dug. 
For  instance,  it  has  been  used  in  hydraulic  claims,  to  shatter 
very  stiff  clay,  which,  after  being  shattered,  is  much  more  easily 
washed  than  otherwise.  In  such  cases,  from  twenty  to  one 
hundred  kegs  of  powder  are  used  at  a  time.  A  writer  in  the 
San  Andreas  Independent  says  : 

"  Caving,  or  breaking  down  dirt,  is  more  than  two-thirds  of 
the  expense  of  working  claims.  I  am  satisfied,  from  some  ex- 
periments that  I  have  made  on  a  small  scale,  that  600  pomds 
of  powder,  properly  placed  and  confined,  will  loosen  more  dirt 
than  the  labor  of  six  men,  with  the  tools  now  in  use,  will  do 
in  one  month  ;  while  the  expense  attending  is  greatly  in  favor 
of  the  powder.  The  latter  will  cost,  say  $165  ;  the  labor  and 
tools  of  six  men  will  cost  at  least  $500,  leaving  $335  in  favor 
of  the  powder,  besides  costing  a  great  deal  less  for  water  to 
run  the  same  amount  of  dirt  off. 

"  Miners  owning  deep  claims  in  localities  where  the  water 
fails  in  the  dry  season  can  employ  their  time  profitably  in 
running  drifts,  cutting  chambers  and  preparing  the  wires 
properly  to  loosen  up  their  entire  claims,  or  so  much  as  can  be 
worked  while  the  water  lasts.  In  many  localities,  the  benefits 
derived  from  exposing  the  dirt  to  the  weather  will  more  than 
repay  the  expense  attending  the  production  of  that  result.  It 
has  been  discovered,  in  many  instances,  where  claims  would  not 
pay  to  sluice,  to  pay  good  wages  when  drifted  out  and  the 
dirt  exposed  to  the  air  before  washing." 

"  Instead  of  piping  or  picking  at  a  hard  bank  of  earth,  for 
perhaps  more  than  half  the  time,  the  miner,"  says  the  San  Juan 
Press,  "  can  now  keep  his  boxes  running  full  of  dirt  constantly, 
at  a  great  saving  of  time  and  money  and  labor.  The  great 
desideratum  with  miners  has  long  been,  to  obtain  an  uninter- 
rupted supply  of  dirt,  at  as  small  a  cost  for  labor  as  possible. 
The  application  of  blasting  appears,  so  far,  to  meet  this  want/' 


MODES   OF    PLACER   MINING.  153 

Mining  Ditches.  \  125.  A  great  portion  of  the  water 
used  in  placer  mining  in  California,  is  brought  to  the  places 
where  used  by  ditches.  The  auriferous  districts  are  very  dry 
in  the  summer  and  fall,  and  the  supply  of  water  is  not  sufficient 
in  the  winter.  It  is  therefore  necessary  to  bring  water  in  arti- 
ficial channels,  from  streams  high  up  in  the  mountains.  These 
channels  are,  in  some  places,  ditches  cut  in  the  surface  of  the 
ground  ;  in  others,  they  are  carried  as  tunnels  through  moun- 
tains ;  and  again,  they  are  wooden  aqueducts,  called  flumes, 
crossing  valleys  and  ravines  several  hundred  feet  above  the 
ground,  supported  by  a  high  wooden  frame  work,  or  suspended 
upon  wires.  In  one  or  two  places,  long  iron  pipes  have  been 
used.  The  ditches  and  flumes  vary  in  size  ;  but  a  flume  six 
feet  wide  and  three  deep  is  considered  a  large  one.  They  are 
usually  made  by  companies,  organized  for  that  special  purpose. 
The  company  having  been  organized  and  incorporated,  the 
route  is  surveyed,  and  the  ground  required  for  reservoirs,  dams 
and  ditch  is  staked  off.  The  course  is  usually  through  unoccu- 
pied land,  and  the  right  of  way  costs  nothing. 

The  water  is  sold  by  the  water  companies  to  the  miners,  at 
a  fixed  price  per  "  inch."  It  runs  out  from  the  side  of  the 
flume,  through  an  opening:  one  or  two  inches  high,  the  water 
standing  inside  six  or  seven  inches  high  above  the  opening.  In 
some  places,  it  is  understood  that  there  shall  be  six  inches 
4<  head,"  in  others  seven.  An  inch  of  water  is  as  much  water 
as  will  escape,  under  that  head,  through  an  opening  an  inch 
square.  The  water,  however,  is  not  measured  with  precision. 
In  the  morning,  there  may  be  fourteen  inches  of  head,  and  with 
the  additional  pressure  the  amount  of  water  escaping  through 
an  orifice  an  inch  square  increases  greatly  ;  in  the  evening, 
there  may  be  a  head  of  not  more  than  three  or  four  inches. 

The  price  of  water  is  usually  fifteen  or  twenty  cents  per  inch 
per  day.  In  a  few  places,  it  is  as  low  as  twelve  cents  ;  in  a 
few  others,  as  high  as  forty  cents. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

PEOCESSES  OF  QUARTZ  MINING. 


Comparison  of  Quartz  with  Placer  Mining. 

J  126.  Quartz  mining  requires  more  capital,  more  expensive 
machinery,  and  more  scientific  knowledge  than  placer  mining. 
In  the  latter,  mechanical  processes  have  a  more  prominent 
place  than  in  the  former.  The  placer  dirt  is  dissolved  in  water  ; 
the  quartz  rock  is  pulverized  by  machinery.  A  placer  claim 
containing  ten  cents  in  a  cubic  yard  of  base  material  may 
pay  ;  a  quartz  claim  will  not  pay,  in  California,  unless  it  con- 
tains eight- dollars  in  a  cubic  yard;  and  very  few  veins  are 
worked  that  do  not  pay  ten  dollars.  Placer  mining  is  not  only 
much  cheaper,  because  the  earthy  matter  may  be  so  readily 
dissolved  in  water,  but  because  the  gold  is  coarse  and  is  more 
readily  caught  in  sluices.  The  gold  in  quartz  must  be  reduced 
to  a  very  fine  powder  ;  otherwise  it  could  not  be  separated 
from  the  rock.  It  is  estimated  that  from  ten  to  twenty  per 
cent,  of  the  gold  is  lost,  both  in  placer  and  quartz  mining.  In 
sluices,  much  of  the  fine  gold  is  carried  away  by  the  water  ;  so 
too  in  quartz  mills,  and  in  the  latter  an  additional  loss  is 
caused  by  the  attrition  under  the  stamps,  for  whenever  a  grain 
of  quartz  rock  is  rubbed  forcibly  against  a  particle  of  gold,  the 
latter  leaves  a  portion  of  its  color  and  substance  on  the  former. 

The  mode  of  working  will  depend  upon  circumstances,  such 
as  the  nature  of  the  vein,  whether  rich  or  poor,  large  or  small, 
hard  or  soft ;  whether  the  particles  of  gold  be  fine  or  coarse  ; 
whether  the  vein  contain  sulphurets  or  not ;  whether  the  vein 
be  easily  accessible  with  wagons  ;  whether  wood  and  water  be 
abundant,  and  so  forth. 

The  main  processes  in  quartz  mining  are,  quarrying  the  rock, 
pulverizing  it,  and  separating  the  gold  from  the  powder. 


PROCESSES   OF   QUARTZ   MINING.  155 

Quarrying  the  Rock.  \  127.  The  quarrying  of 
quartz  is  done  like  the  quarrying  of  other  rock,  and  therefore 
requires  no  special  explanation  here.  Blasting  is  ordinarily 
necessary.  The  instruments  used  are  the  pick,  shovel,  crowbar, 
drill,  and  blasting  powder.  While  quarrying,  the  miner  occas- 
ionally assays  the  rock,  by  pulverizing  some  of  it  and  washing 
it  in  a  horn  spoon,  as  described  in  §  96.  An  experienced 
miner  soon  learns  not  only  to  know  whether  rock  will  pay 
to  work,  but  how  much  it  will  pay. 

Pulverizing  the  Quartz.  \  128.  The  pulverizing  of 
the  rock  is  done  with  a  hand-mortar,  a  large  stone,  an  arastra, 
a  Chilean  mill,  a  stamping  mill  or  horizontal  stones. 

The  hand-mortar  is  used  when  the  quantity  is  small,  or  the 
rock  very  rich  in  coarse  gold.  In  the  latter  case,  the  quartz  is 
easily  broken  up,  and  most  of  the  gold  is  picked  out  with  the 
fingers. 

Pulverizing  with  a  Stone.  $  129.  A  large  stone  is 
sometimes  used  by  Mexican  miners.  They  fasten  a  granite 
boulder,  weighing  from  sixty  to  one  hundred  and  twenty 
pounds,  to  the  end  of  a  long,  strong  pole — usually  the  trunk  of 
a  small  tree,  fifteen  feet  long  and  five  inches  thick — putting 
the  boulder  in  a  fork  at  the  upper  end,  and  then  they  lay  the 
pole  uacross  a  support  or  fulcrum,  so  that  the  stone  may  be 
raised  and  allowed  to  fall  by  a  man  at  the  other  end,  acting  in 
a  see-saw  manner.  Under  the  boulder  is  a  rock  on  which  the 
quartz  is  placed  to  be  pulverized. 

The  Arastra.  \  130.  The  arastra  is  a  mill  to  pulverize 
and  amalgamate  auriferous  quartz,  and  it  is  considered  one  of 
the  best  instruments  for  doing  that  work.  It  is  a  circular  bed, 
from  eight  to  twenty  feet  in  diameter,  paved  with  stones,  in 
which  quartz,  broken  into  small  pieces,  is  placed  and  ground 
to  powder  by  dragging  a  muller  or  large  stone  over  it.  Aras- 
tras  are  of  two  kinds,  the  "  rude  "  and  the  "  improved."  In  the 
rude  arastra,  the  bed  is  paved  with  unhewn,  flat,  hard  stones, 
laid  usually  in  common  dirt,  sometimes  in  clay  or  cement.  If 
laid  in  cement,  numerous  crevices  are  left  between  the  stones. 
In  the  improved  arastra,  the  paving  is  done  with  stones  nicely 
hewn,  of  greenstone  or  very  hard  granite.  Around  the  bed  is 
a  wall  of  stone  a  foot  high,  and  in  the  center  of  the  bed  is  a 


156  HAND-BOOK   OF    MINING. 

post  to  which  are  fastened  two  arms,  and  to  these,  extending 
across  the  bed,  are  fastened  with  chains  a  couple  of  mullers, 
which  are  to  be  dragged  round  and  round  in  the  bed  to  grind 
the  quartz.  At  the  end  of  the  arm  is  hitched  a  mule,  which 
has  a  circular  path  along  the  edge  of  the  bed  of  the  arastra. 
Sometimes  only  one  muller  is  used ;  sometimes  two,  and  in 
these  cases  one  mule  or  horse  is  sufficient  to  do  the  work  ; 
sometimes  there  are  four  mullers,  and  then  two  mules  are  neces- 
sary. The  mullers  should  be  long  and  flat,  of  very  hard  ma- 
terial and  coarse  grain,  and  weigh  from  five  hundred  to  eight 
hundred  pounds.  They  are  so  hung  as  to  have  the  forward 
end  about  an  inch  above  the  bed  of  the  arastra,  while  the  hind 
end  drags. 

When  the  arastra  is  to  be  used,  a  batch  of  quartz  broken 
into  fragments  of  an  inch  in  diameter  or  less,  and  amounting 
in  all  to  four  hundred  or  five  hundred  pounds,  is  put  into  an 
arastra  ten  feet  in  diameter — the  amount  of  quartz  being 
greater  if  the  arastra  be  larger.  The  mule  is  then  hitched  up 
and  started,  and  if  the  quartz  be  not  very  hard,  it  will  be 
ground  to  a  fine  powder  in  about  four  hours.  Water  is  then 
poured  in  gradually,  while  the  mule  still  continues  his  labor, 
until  the  pulverized  quartz  and  water  have  taken  the  con- 
sistence of  cream.  Quicksilver  is  now  added  in  the  proportion 
of  an  ounce  and  a  quarter  to  every  ounce  of  gold  in  the  quartz. 
The  amount  of  gold  is  guessed  at  from  previous  examinations 
and  workings  of  the  rock.  The  grinding  continues  for  an  hour 
longer,  and  the  quicksilver  is  thereby  broken  up  into  very  fine 
particles,  and  distributed  all  through  the  pulp,  and  brought 
into  contact  with  every  portion  of  it.  The  amalgamation 
having  been  completed,  a  large  amount  of  water  is  let  into  the 
arastra  and  the  mule  is  driven  around  slowly,  to  dissolve  the 
thick  pulp  in  the  water  and  allow  the  particles  of  quicksilver 
and  amalgam  to  settle  to  the  bottom.  A  quarter  or  half  an 
hour  is  sufficient  for  this,  and  then  a  gate  at  one  side  of  the 
arastra  is  opened,  and  the  thin  mud  is  carried  away  by  a 
stream  of  water  running  in  on  one. side  and  out  on  the  other, 
leaving  the  gold  and  amalgam  on  the  bed  of  the  arastra. 

In  the  rude  arastra,  the  quicksilver  amalgam  settles  down 
into  the  crevices  between  the  stones  of  the  pavement.  After 
the  thin  mud  has  all  been  swept  away,  another  charge  of  quartz 
is  put  in  and  the  same  process  is  repeated.  At  the  end  of  the 
week,  the  paving  is  dug  up,  all  the  dirt  between  the  stones  and 


PROCESSES    OF   QUARTZ   MINING.  157 

attached  to  them  and  under  them  is  carefully  collected  and 
washed  to  save  the  amalgam,  which  is  then  retorted. 

The  arastra  is  an.  excellent  device  for  catching  the  gold  in 
quartz  rock  by  amalgamation.  The  thick  consistence  of  the 
pulp,  the  slowness  of  the  motion  of  the  muller  and  the  complete 
supervision  of  the  miner  over  the  whole  process,  are  extremely 
favorable  to  the  main  object  of  amalgamation.  It  has  not 
unfrequently  happened  that  Mexicans  in  California  have  made 
fifty  and  sixty  dollars  per  ton  from  quartz  with  arastras,  and 
Americans  have  bought  their  claims,  erected  large  stamping 
mills  to  crush  six  or  eight  tons  a  day,  expecting  to  make  a 
clear  profit  of  several  hundred  dollars  daily ;  but  have  found 
their  investment  very  unprofitable,  because  the  quartz  would 
not  yield  more  than  ten  or  twelve  dollars  per  ton  to  rapid  and 
"  improved  "  modes  of  amalgamation. 

The  arastra,  besides  its  thoroughness,  has  the  advantages  of 
being  cheap,  simple,  easily  managed,  and  better  suited  than 
any  other  mode  of  amalgamation  for  a  place  where  water  is 
scarce.  Its  great  disadvantage  is  that  it  is  so  slow.  The 
arastra  is  sometimes  used  for  amalgamating  tailings  that  have 
run  through  other  quartz  mills. 

The  Chilean  Mill.  $  131.  The  Chilean  mill  works  on 
the  same  general  principle  with  the  arastra  ;  it  pulverizes  and 
amalgamates  at  the  same  time,  but  instead  of  grinding  with  a 
drag-stone,  it  uses  a  large  stone  wheel,  which  runs  round  and 
round  in  a  bed  similar  to  the  bed  of  the  arastra.  The  mode  of 
operation  and  of  amalgamation  is  very  similar  to  that  of  the 
arastra. 

An  improved  Chilean  mill  is  made  with  two  ^  large  iron 
wheels  running  on  one  shaft,  which  turns  on  a  pivot,  and  the 
two  wheels  run  round  in  a  little  iron  basin,  into  which  a  small 
stream  of  water  runs  regularly,  with  an  escape  on  one  side  for 
the  water  and  light  dirt. 

The  Square  Stamp.  §132.  Ninety-five  per  cent,  of 
the  quartz  pulverized  in  California  is  crushed  by  stamps.  These 
are  of  two  kinds,  the  square  and  the  rotary. 

The  square  stamp  is  a  wooden  shaft  about  eight  feet  long, 
and  from  five  to  eight  inches  square,  shod  with  an  iron  slioe 
weighing  from  a  hundred  to  a  thousand  pounds.  The  stamp 
stands  perpendicularly,  and  it  crushes  the  rock  by  falling  with 


158  HAND-BOOK   OP  MINING. 

all  its  weight  from  six  to  eighteen  inches.  It  is  raised  by  a 
cam  or  tooth  in  a  revolving  horizontal  shaft,  and  the  stamp  is 
lifted  up  and  allowed  to  fall  at  every  revolution  of  the  shaft. 
A  number  of  the  stamps  stand  side  by  side  in  the  stamping 
mill,  and  they  rise  and  fall  consecutively.  The  stamps  fall  into 
the  stamping  box  or  battery.  The  quartz  is  broken  to  the  size 
of  a  hen's  egg  or  a  pigeon's  egg  before  it  is  thrown  into  the 
battery.  Quartz  is  crushed  either  wet  or  dry ;  in  the  former 
case  a  stream  of  water  runs  constantly  into  the  battery  ;  in  the 
latter  the  rock  is  crushed  without  water.  The  battery  is  sur- 
rounded by  a  screen  or  sieve  of  wire-gauze  or  perforated  sheet- 
iron,  which  allows  the  quartz  which  has  been  sufficiently  pul- 
verized to  escape. 

The  Rotary  Stamp.  $133.  The  rotary  stamp  has  an 
iron  shaft,  which  receives  a  revolving  motion  as  it  falls.  The 
rotary  stamp  is  preferred  to  the  square,  and  the  latter  has  been 
discarded  in  those  mills  which  have  the  best  reputation  for  ex- 
cellence of  management.  The  rotary  stamp,  according  to 
report,  crushes  more  rock  with  the  same  expenditure  of  power, 
wears  away  less  of  the  shoe,  and  has  several  advantages  in  con- 
sequence of  having  more  room  in  the  battery. 

Horizontal  Stones.  §  134.  Stones,  similar  in  size, 
shape  and  mode  of  operation  to  the  burr  mill  stones  for  grind- 
ing flour,  have  been  used  for  grinding  soft  quartz,  and  for  pul- 
verizing quartz  that  had  been  calcined  to  drive  off  the  sulphur 
from  iron  and  copper  pyrites. 

Separation  of  Gold.  \  135.  The  principles  applied 
in  the  separation  of  gold  from  pulverized  quartz  are  the  same 
with  those  used  in  the  separation  of  placer  gold  from  the  clay 
and  sand  in  which  it  is  found.  The  only  difference  in  the  pro- 
cess is  caused  by  the  greater  fineness  of  the  material  upon 
which  the  operation  is  performed.  The  means  of  separation 
are  mechanical  and  chemical ;  the  latter  consisting  of  amalga- 
mation in  various  shapes  ;  the  former,  in  arresting  the  gold  on 
a  rough  surface  by  the  aid  of  its  high  specific  gravity. 

Appliances  for  Separating.  $  136.  The  principal 
mechanical  appliances  for  separating  gold  from  pulverized 
quartz,  are  the  blanket,  hide  and  sluice  ;  the  chief  chemical  ap- 


PROCESSES    OF    QUARTZ    MINING.  159 

pliances  are  amalgamation  in  the  battery,  the  amalgamating 
copper  plate,  and  a  multitude  of  amalgamating  pans. 

There  is  no  one  .system  of  catching  gold  generally  adopted 
in  the  quartz  mills  of  the  State  ;  indeed,  there  are  scarcely  half 
a  dozen  that  treat  their  pulverized  quartz  in  the  same  manner. 

The  Blanket.  $  137.  The  blanket  used  in  quartz  mills, 
is  a  common,  coarse,  gray  woolen  blanket ;  the  coarser  and 
rougher  the  better.  The  blanket  is  laid  down  in  a  trough  six 
feet  long  and  from  fourteen  to  thirty  inches  wide,  and  as  the 
quartz  is  carried  over  it  by  the  water,  the  gold  is  deposited. 
Some  very  good  quartz  miners  put  the  blanket  next  the  bat- 
tery, and  consider  it  an  important  point  to  have  the  gold  pass 
the  blanket  before  being  subjected  to  amalgamation.  Others 
amalgamate  first,  and  give  the  blanket  a  subordinate  place. 
The  blanket  is  taken  up  and  washed  in  a  vat  from  time  to  time, 
according  to  the  amount  of  gold  which  it  catches.  In  some 
mills  the  blankets  are  washed  twice  every  hour  ;  in  others  only 
twice  a  day. 

The  Golden  Fleece.  §  138.  The  hide  is  a  cow  or 
calf  skin  with  the  hair  on,  with  the  hair  lying  against  the  cur- 
rent. The  purpose  of  the  hide  is  the  same  as  that  of  the 
blanket.  Sheep  skins  with  the  wool  on,  reminding  us  of  the 
Golden  Fleece,  have  been  used  in  a  similar  manner,  but  with- 
out satisfactory  results. 

The  Sluice.  $139.  The  sluice  used  in  quartz  mills  is 
similar  to  the  placer  board  sluice.  Sometimes  it  is  small  and 
short,  with  transverse  riffle  bars ;  sometimes  long  and  large. 
Quicksilver  is  ordinarily  used  in  the  quartz  mill  Sluices.  In 
those  places  where  the  quartz  contains  much  pyrites,  it  is  com- 
mon to  use  the  sluices  for  collecting  the  sulphurets  of  iron  and 
copper,  which  are  saved  to  be  operated  upon  at  some  future 
time.  This  operation  is  styled  "  concentrating  the  tailings," 
and  the  material  obtained  is  called  "  concentrated  tailings." 

Amalgamation.  §  140.  Amalgamation  in  quartz  mills 
is  effected  by  very  many  different  processes. 

In  the  Battery.  \  141.  The  first  method  is  to  amalga- 
mate in  the  battery.  Two  ounces  of  quicksilver  are  put  in  to 


160  HAND-BOOK   OF    MTNING. 

catch  one  ounce  of  gold,  and  the  amalgamation  proceeds  more 
rapidly  and  more  gold  is  caught  when  that  proportion  is  pre- 
served, than  if  there  be  too  much  or  too  little  quicksilver.  In 
the  Sierra  Buttes  mills  two-thirds  of  the  gold  is  caught  in  the 
batteries. 

Copper  Plate.  §  142.  The  amalgamating  copperplate 
is  very  extensively  used.  It  is  a  copper  trough,  from  three  to 
ten  feet  long  ;  sometimes  nearly  smooth  on  the  bottom,  some- 
times provided  with  riffles  and  basins.  The  surface  of  this 
trough  is  covered  with  quicksilver,  which  amalgamates  with 
copper  as  with  gold  and  silver.  The  copper  keeps  a  surface  of 
quicksilver  thus  constantly  ready  to  catch  the  gold.  A  good 
description  of  an  amalgamating  copper  plate  may  be  found  in 
§113. 

Amalgamating  Basins,  g  143.  Amalgamating  pans 
or  basins  are  made  in  many  styles.  One  is  like  an  arastra, ; 
another  is  like  a  Chilean  mill ;  a  third  is  a  large  bowl  with  a 
stick  that  stirs  round  and  round ;  a  fourth  is  a  large  bowl  with 
square  compartments  in  the  bottom,  every  compartment  con- 
taining quicksilver,  and  the  bowl  is  shaken  violently  so  that  the 
pulverized  quartz  is  thrown  successively  from  one  compartment 
to  another ;  a  fifth  is  a  large  bowl,  revolving,  with  a  slight  in- 
clination, on  an  eccentric  axis ;  and  in  a  sixth  the  pulverized 
quartz  is  forced  through  mercury.  The  amalgamating  basins 
always  contain  a  supply  of  loose  quicksilver.  The  arastra  and 
Chilean  mill  are  used  sometimes  to  grind  the  powder  finer,  as 
well  as  to  amalgamate.  While  amalgamating,  the  miner  oc- 
casionally washes  some  of  the  pulverized  rock  in  a  horn  spoon, 
to  judge  of  its  richness  and  to  know  how  much  quicksilver 
must  be  used. 

General  Remarks.  \  144.  The  devices  which  I  have 
here  mentioned  for  separating  the  gold  from  pulverized  quartz, 
are  but  a  few  of  a  great  multitude,  most  of  which  do  not  re- 
quire a  particular  description  here.  Mr.  Capp  wrote  thus,  in 
1857,  about  the  methods  then  used  in  the  quartz  mills  of  Grass 
Yalley : 

"  Some  persons  prefer  to  separate  as  much  of  the  gold  as 
possible  without  mercury.  Others  believe  the  sooner  the  gold 
is  brought  in  contact  with  mercury  the  more  certainly  is  it 


PROCESSES   OP   QUARTZ   MINING.     .  161 

secured  and  prevented  from  passing  off.  Accordingly,  in  one 
instance,  in  Wiggain's  mill,  at  Nevada,  I  found  that  mercury 
was  put  into  the  batteries  along  with  the  quartz,  thus  catching 
a  large  part  of  the  gold  there.  This  plan,  however,  has  gen- 
erally been  abandoned  in  this  vicinity.  In  the  Empire  mill,  at 
Grass  Valley,  there  was  placed  a  pan  of  mercury  directly  un- 
der the  batteries,  so  that  all  the  quartz,  as  it  escaped  through 
the  sieve,  first  fell  from  a  spout  into  this  pan,  and  left  a  large 
portion  of  its  gold  there.  In  the  French  mill,  before  going 
any  further,  after  passing  the  sieve,  an  opportunity  is  given  to 
the  gold  and  heaviest  portion  of  the  quartz  to  settle  in  a  box, 
from  whence  it  is  taken  along  with  the  blanket  washings  to  the 
amalgamator  and  thence  to  the  grinder,  which  is  used  in  place 
of  the  Chile  mill.  But  in  most  of  the  mills,  after  passing  the 
sieve,  the  quartz  is  carried  by  the  water  which  splashed  it  out 
of  the  battery  down  a  trough  ten  or  fifteen  feet  in  length,  with 
a  fall  of  eight  inches  or  a  foot.  A  coarse,  long-haired  blanket 
is  placed  in  the  bottom  of  this  trough,  and  affords  just  suffi- 
cient obstruction  to  the  water  to  cause  a  large  portion  of  the 
gold  to  settle  upon  it,  while  ninety-five  per  cent,  of  the  rock  is 
carried  on  beyond  it.  At  the  Mount  Hope  mill,  the  blanketed 
trough  is  divided  into  two  lengths,  and  between  them  a  pan  of 
mercury  is  placed,  so  that  a  portion  of  the  gold  is  caught 
there,  and  what  passes  over  the  second  blankets  has  thus  been 
in  contact  with  mercury.  The  rule  generally  is,  not  to  permit 
mercury  to  touch  the  gold  before  it  passes  the  blankets.  This 
is  because  in  coating  the  particles  of  gold  the  mercury  ren- 
ders them  globular,  destroying  their  natural  angles,  thus  ren- 
dering them  less  likely  to  be  caught  by  the  hairs  of  the  blanket, 
and  more  liable  to  be  rolled  and  carried  off  by  the  water. 

"  Below  the  blankets  a  variety  of  amalgamators *and  other 
contrivances  are  used,  to  cause  the  gold  to  settle  and  bring 
it  into  contact  with  mercury.  At  the  Gold  Hill  mill,  below 
the  blankets  small  falls  are  arranged,  so  that  the  current 
is  broken  and  the  gold  assisted  in  finding  its  way  through  the 
quartz  to  the  bottom.  Afterwards  it  is  received  into  tanks 
about  eight  feet  long,  where  nearly  all  the  current  is  stopped, 
and  the  heaviest  portion  settles  at  the  upper  end.  That  quartz 
which  has  settled  within  a  foot  or  so  of  the  upper  end  is  called 
a  '  heading/  and  is  taken  out  with  that  from  the  falls  above 
the  blanket  washings  to  be  amalgamated  and  then  ground  in 
the  Chile  mill.  In  the  Empire  mill,  the  quartz,  after  passing 


162  HAND-BOOK   OP   MINING. 

over  the  blankets,  falls  into  a  pan  of  mercury,  and  from  that 
into  another,  and  so  on  through  five  pans.  Thence  it  passes  to 
tanks  similar  to  those  mentioned  above.  The  muddy  water  which 
passes  over,  and  the  rest  of  the  quartz  which  is  washed  out 
when  the  headings  have  been  reproved,  go  through  a  Cram's 
riffle,  which  is  merely  a  box  with  compartments  arranged  as  a 
series  of  falls  of  about  six  inches  each,  under  which  mercury 
stands  to  the  depth  of  an  inch.  A  partition  in  each  compart- 
ment extends  across  and  to  within  a  short  distance  of  the  bot- 
tom, so  that  the  water  and  quartz  must  fall  behind  it,  and  in 
order  to  escape  have  to  pass  under  the  lower  edge  close  to  the 
mercury,  and  then  rises  in  front  and  falls  into  the  next  riffle. 
After  thus  passing  four  or  five  riffles,  it  is  allowed  to  escape  to 
the  pile  of  tailings  or  down  the  creek,  but  passes,  in  doing  so, 
through  a  trough  which  has  quicksilver  in  it.  In  other  mills, 
the  quartz  is  received  from  the  blankets  into  a  Stetson's  Amal- 
gamator, which  is  a  chest  of  shallow  drawers,  each  of  which  is 
perforated  with  half-inch  holes,  arranged  so  that  those  in  one 
drawer  are  over  the  centers  between  the  holes  in  the  one  below. 
Around  these  holes  are  small  grooves,  which  are  filled  with 
mercury,  into  which  the  gold  and  quartz  must  fall,  and  the 
former  is  caught  and  retained  while  the  latter  passes  on,  and  is 
carried  by  a  trough  to  the  tailings  pile. 

"  The  ground  quartz  and  gold  which  has  settled  on  the 
blankets  and  in  any  riffles  or  other  contrivance  above  where 
mercury  is  used,  is  removed  and  worked  with  water  by  a  man 
using  his  fingers,  or  as  at  the  Gold  Hill  mill,  with  a  wheel  hav- 
ing its  circumference  covered  with  projecting  claws,  passing 
between  similar  ones  arranged  in  the  trough  or  basin,  which  is 
partially  filled  with  mercury.  This  causes  the  largest  portion 
of  gold  to  be  caught  and  covered  by  the  mercury  into  which 
it  sinks.  Thence  the  water  carries  the  quartz  along  a  trough 
in  which  are  riffles  or  cuts  filled  with  mercury.  The  trough 
leads  it  into  the  basin  of  the  Chile  mill,  where  it  is  ground  as 
fine  as  flour  in  connection  with  mercury.  The  grains  of  quartz 
and  pyrites  of  iron  being  thus  disintegrated,  any  particles  of 
gold  which  have  been  held  in  them  are  liberated,  and  their  sur- 
faces cleaned  and  polished.  The  mercury  is  then  able  to  at- 
tack them,  and  an  amalgam  is  formed.  The  quartz  and  pyrites 
thus  finely  pulverized  gradually  mix  with  the  water  and  pass 
off  as  a  muddy  stream.  Sometimes  amalgamators  are  placed 
below  the  Chile  mill,  through  which  this  muddy  water  has  to 


PROCESSES   OF   QUARTZ   MINING.  163 

pass,  so  that  another  and  final  opportunity  is  afforded  for  any 
free  gold  that  may  have  escaped  to  unite  with  the  mercury. 
But  very  little  is  ever  collected  in  amalgamators  below  these 
mills,  and  little  attention  is  paid  to  what  escapes  them.  The 
Chile  mill  consists  of  two  heavy  iron  wheels,  with  broad  flat 
tires,  rolling  slowly  in  a  cast  iron  basin.  At  the  Gold  Hill 
mill,  stirrers  run  in  front  of  the  wheels,  continually  throwing 
the  pulp  directly  in  their  path. 

"  At  the  Empire  mills  the  blanket  washings  are  run  a  second 
time  over  blankets,  so  as  to  let  a  portion  of  the  less  valuable 
and  coarser  parts  escape  into  the  ordinary  amalgamation.  The 
residue  which  is  retained  is  then  amalgamated  in  a  trough  as 
usual,  but  nitric  acid  is  used  in  connection  with  the  mercury. 
This,  it  is  believed,  cleans  a  portion  of  the  gold,  on  which  there 
is  often  an  insoluble  coating  which  prevents  the  mercury  from 
attacking  it,  and  also  by  dissolving  some  of  the  sulphurets 
frees  the  gold  which  they  contain,  and  renders  its  amalgama- 
tion and  separation  more  perfect.  The  additional  expense  is 
very  trifling,  and  the  proprietors  are  satisfied  with  the  results. 

"  The  action  of  mercury  upon  gold  is  not  always  instantane- 
ous, so  that  when  the  two  are  in  contact  for  any  length  of  time, 
much  gold  is  apt  to  be  collected  which  remains  entirely  free 
and  passes  off  with  the  water  and  fine  quartz  when  a  continual 
motion  is  kept  up,  as  in  a  trough  or  any  kind  of  amalgamator 
in  which  a  constant  current  is  kept  up.  Grinding  and  pressure 
also  greatly  facilitate  the  action  of  the  mercury.  In  the  Bra- 
zilian quartz  mines  this  is  well  understood,  and  the  blanket 
washings — the  richest  portions  of  the  pulverized  quartz — are 
kept  in  contact  with  mercury  for  twenty-four  hours,  during 
which  time  a  constant  grinding  is  kept  up.  For  this  purpose 
the  fine  quartz  is  placed  with  water  and  mercury*  in  barrels, 
which  turn  continually  upon  a  horizontal  axis.  The  result  is 
said  to  be  very  satisfactory  ;  but  the  operation  requires  more 
time  and  power  than  many  think  would  be  profitable  in  Cali- 
fornia. I  am  convinced,  however,  that  some  such  means,  afford- 
ing a  more  lengthened  contact  with  the  mercury,  will  be  re- 
sorted to  hereafter  in  place  of  any  of  the  many  instantaneous 
amalgamators  now  in  use,  and  that  much  of  the  gold  which 
now  escapes  will  in  this  way  be  secured. 

"  In  the  French  mill,  as  in  other  mills,  in  front  of  the  stamp- 
ers a  perpendicular  sieve  is  arranged,  and  the  water  which  is 
supplied  in  front  of  the  stamps  splashes  when  they  fall,  carry- 


164  HAND-BOOK  OF   MINING. 

ing  with  it  the  pulverized  quartz.  That  portion  which  is  fine 
enough  passes  through  the  sieve  with  the  water.  In  most  mills 
the  pulverized  quartz  passes  freely  away  from  the  stampers  into 
the  troughs,  but  here  an  opportunity  is  given  for  the  heaviest 
portion  of  it  to  settle  in  the  boxes  immediately  in  front  of  the 
sieves.  The  greater  part,  however,  is  carried  by  the  water 
through  an  aperture  left  for  the  purpose,  and  then  passes,  as 
usual,  through  a  trough  about  fifteen  feet  in  length,  lined  with 
blankets,  on  which  a  portion  of  the  gold  settles,  and  having  a 
fall  of  eight  or  ten  inches.  At  the  end  of  this  trough  the 
stream  is  divided,  and  passes  into  a  set  of  three  small  bowls, 
about  eight  inches  in  diameter,  and  containing  mercury.  Small 
arms,  moved  steadily  by  machinery,  continually  revolve  in 
each  of  these  bowls,  and  bring  another  portion  of  the  gold  in 
contact  with  the  mercury.  The  bowls  are  arranged  one  below 
the  other,  so  that  the  quartz  and  water  pass  through  all  three 
of  them.  Leaving  the  bowls,  the  quartz  is  then  carried  by 
the  water  through  a  Stetson's  amalgamator  of  six  drawers, 
where  still  another  but  smaller  portion  of  the  gold  is  saved. 
Finally,  it  is  carried  off  to  the  pile  of  tailings,  but  the  troughs 
in  which  it  moves  are  also  quicksilvered  and  retain  a  little  more 
of  the  gold  that  is  left.  Thus  the  bulk  of  the  rock  that  is 
crushed  is  disposed  of,  but  by  far  the  greater  part  of  the  gold 
is  mixed  with  that  which  remained  in  the  trough  in  front  of 
the  stampers,  or  has  lodged  on  the  blankets.  Every  twenty  or 
thirty  minutes  the  blankets  are  changed  and  rinsed  out  in 
water,  that  their  surfaces  may  remain  rough  and  hairy  and  not 
become  clogged  by  the  fine  quartz,  and  so  fail  to  afford  a  lodg- 
ment for  the  particles  of  metal.  Whenever  the  blankets  are 
changed,  the  quartz  in  front  of  the  stampers  is  removed  and 
thrown  with  that  washed  from  the  blankets.  Then,  in  small 
quantities  at  a  time,  it  is  placed  in  a  trough  upon  which  a 
stream  of  water  pours,  regulated  by  an  ingenious  mechanical 
arrangement  so  as  to  carry  the  quartz  always  at  the  same  rate 
through  a  series  of  stirring  bowls  containing  mercury,  and  sim- 
ilar to  those  before  described.  Thence  the  quartz  is  taken  to 
the  mill  in  which  it  is  ground,  to  crush  the  coarser  particles 
and  the  iron  pyrites,  which  may  protect  a  portion  of  the  gold 
from  contact  with  the  mercury.  Thence  it  passes,  as  did  the 
other,  through  Stetson's  amalgamators  and  quicksilver  troughs, 
which  carry  it  also  to  the  pile  of  tailings. 

"  In  other  establishments,  the  mill  used  in  grinding  the  pyrites 


PROCESSES   OF   QUARTZ   MINING.  165 

and  coarser  parts  of  the  blanket  washings  is  the  ordinary 
Chile  mill ;  but  here  a  new  apparatus  is  employed  that  has 
lately  been  invented  and  patented  by  Mons.  Chavanne,  the 
manager.  For  this  he  claims  many  advantages  ;  the  principal 
one,  however,  is  that  it  operates  more  rapidly,  and  will  grind 
a  larg'er  quantity  of  tailings  per  day  than  the  Chile  mill,  also 
doing  the  work  quite  as  perfectly.  It  will  be  seen  that  the 
two  processes  of  separation  are  used,  by  which  the  quartz  as 
pulverized  is  divided  into  two  portions,  viz.  :  that  which  re- 
mains in  the  trough  in  front  of  the  stampers  and  on  the  blankets, 
and  that  which  passes  on  beyond  them  and  goes  directly  through 
the  series  of  amalgamation  first  described.  To  exhibit  the 
effects  of  the  different  parts  of  the  process,  M.  Chavanne  very 
kindly  furnished  me  with  the  following  figures  : 

"  Of  a  ton  of  quartz  that  is  crushed,  ten  per  cent,  settles  in 
the  trough,  and  five  per  cent,  in  the  blankets.  The  remainder 
passes  off  with  the  water  through  the  amalgamators.  Suppose 
that  a  ton  of  quartz  yielded  forty  dollars,  by  the  use  of  the  ap- 
paratus above  described  ;  the  gold  would  then  be  collected  as 
follows  :  In  the  quartz  which  settled  on  the  trough  in  front 
of  the  stampers  and  upon  the  blankets,  would  be  thirty  dollars, 
or  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  the  whole  ;  in  the  stirring  bowls, 
just  below,  in  combination  with  the  mercury,  three  dollars,  or 
seven  and  one-half  per  cent. ;  in  the  Stetson's  amalgamator, 
below  them,  one  dollar  and  seventy-five  cents,  or  four  and 
three-eighths  per  cent. ;  and  in  the  quicksilver  trough  beyond, 
seventy-five  cents,  or  one  and  seven-eighths  per  cent.  Then 
the  thirty  dollars  has  to  be  separated  from  the  quartz  with 
which  it  is  mixed,  and,  in  accomplishing  this,  the  machinery 
used  acts  as  follows  :  In  the  three  bowls  would  be,  obtained 
twenty-five  dollars,  or  eighty- three  and  one-third  per  cent,  of 
this  portion,  or  sixty-two  and  a  half  per  cent,  of  the  whole 
yield.  Of  this,  three-fourths  would  be  in  the  upper  bowl.  In 
the  mill  below,  four  dollars,  or  thirteen  and  one-third  per  cent, 
of  this  portion,  or  ten  per  cent,  of  the  whole.  Perhaps  the 
remaining  fifty  cents,  or  one  and  a  quarter  per  cent.,  would  be 
found  in  the  amalgamator  and  trough  below. 

"  This  process  is  considered  one  of  the  most  perfect  in  use, 
on  account  of  the  many  ways  adopted  to  bring  the  mercury  in 
contact  with  the  gold,  all  of  which,  it  will  be  seen,  is  amal- 
gamated. It  is  claimed  that  by  using  this  process,  rock  which 
in  1856  only  yielded  thirty-four  or  thirty-five  dollars  per  ton, 


166  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

now  yields  at  least  forty  dollars.  The  stirring  bowls  are 
thought  by  the  proprietors  to  be  better  than  the  ordinary 
riffled  trough  amalgamator,  because  there  the  tailings  are 
stirred  into  the  mercury  by  a  man,  with  his  fingers,  and  though 
he  may  operate  very  regularly  for  an  hour  or  so,  he  is  liable  to 
become  tired  or  careless.  The  regular  motion  of  machinery 
avoids  this  danger." 

Sulphurets  an*.  Amalgamation.  J  145.  The  sul- 
phurets  of  iron,  copper  and  lead  are  frequently  found  in  aurif- 
erous quartz,  in  considerable  quantities,  and  by  their  presence 
they  prevent  amalgamation,  and  thus  cause  the  escape  of  a 
large  portion  of  the  fine  gold.  The  chemical  causes  of  the 
refusal  of  the  quicksilver  to  catch  gold  when  sulphur  is  present, 
are  not  fully  understood  ;  but  the  fact  is  undeniable.  Au- 
riferous quartz  that  contains  three  hundred  and  four  hundred 
dollars  to  the  ton,  will,  if  it  contain  much  sulphurets,  rarely 
yield  more  than  twenty  or  thirty  dollars,  in  very  fine  gold,  to 
the  amalgamating  process.  The  treatment  of  the  sulphurets 
becomes,  therefore,  a  matter  of  very  great  importance  to  the 
quartz  miner.  The  sulphurets  are  decomposed  by  a  high  heat, 
and  by  long  continued  exposure  to  the  atmosphere  ;  and  when 
decomposed,  they  no  longer  present  any  obstacle  to  amalga- 
mation. But  the  roasting  of  the  quartz,  and  the  exposure  of 
tailings  to  the  atmosphere  for  a  long  time,  are  both  expensive, 
and  in  most  cases  will  not  pay.  At  many  mills,  the  tailings 
containing  sulphurets  are  all  saved  in  heaps,  for  some  future 
time,  when  they  may  be  worked  with  a  profit. 

Quartz  Mining  as  a  Business.  \  146.  Quartz, 
like  all  other  branches  of  mining,  is  a  very  uncertain  business, 
paying  immense  profits  to  some,  and  causing  great  losses  to 
others.  It  is  that  kind  of  a  business  in  which  men,  as  a  general 
rule,  should  not  invest  money  unless  they  have  made  the  work- 
ing of  quartz  their  study,  and  can  themselves  be  present  to  see 
how  the  work  is  done.  But  to  industrious  men,  who  superin- 
tend their  own  claims,  and  have'  much  business  talent  and  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  quartz  mining,  there  are  few  occupa- 
tions that  promise  greater  profits,  than  the  crushing  and  amal- 
gamation of  auriferous  quartz. 

The  owners  of  quartz  leads  have  very  often  erred,  in  Cali- 
fornia, in  supposing  that  because  they  found  very  rich  rock  at 


PROCESSES   OP    QUARTZ   MINING.  167 

the  surface  of  the  vein,  they  would  continue  to  find  the  same 
proportion  of  gold  throughout  the  vein ;  and  acting  on  this 
presumption  have  erected  expensive  mills,  which  had  scarcely 
commenced  operations  before  the  rich  quartz  all  gave  out, 
leaving  stuff  that  would  not  pay. 

For  men  having  little  knowledge  of  quartz  mining,  and  be- 
coming the  owners  of  a  rich  quartz  lead,  the  safer  plan  is  either 
to  take  the  rock  to  a  custom  mill — that  is,  a  quartz  mill  which 
crushes  quartz  at  a  certain  price  per  ton,  for  all  applicants — 
or  to  use  the  arastra.  This  course  may  be  used  until  enough 
money  is  made  to  build  a  stamping  mill,  and  until  some  ex- 
perience is  gained. 

The  quartz  now  worked  in  California  pays,  on  an  average, 
eighteen  or  twenty  dollars  per  ton  ;  and  costs  twelve  or  fifteen 
dollars  to  work  it.  In  some  mills,  the  expense  is  not  more 
than  six  dollars  per  ton.  The  poorest  quartz  that  is  worked 
yields  ten  dollars  per  ton,  and  the  richest  vein  probably  does 
not  average  over  one  hundred  dollars. 


CHAPTER   X. 

PEG  CESSES  OF  SILVER  MINING. 


Comparison  of  Gold  and  Silver  Mining.  \  147. 
Silver  mining  differs  greatly  from  gold  mining.  The  latter 
metal  is  found  in  mechanical  combination  with  baser  sub- 
stances ;  the  former  in  chemical  union  with  them.  Gold  is  not 
found  in  ore ;  silver  is.  Gold  is  separated  from  the  quartz 
and  diluvium  in  which  it  is  found  chiefly,  by  mechanical  or 
very  simple  chemical  means,  and  by  processes  easily  learned ; 
silver  is  found  in  many  different  kinds  of  ore,  each  of  which 
must  be  reduced  chemically,  by  intricate  processes,  varying 
greatly  according  to  the  character  of  the  minerals  and  the  cir- 
cumstances in  which  they  are  found. 

Silver  Ores  of  the  Pacific  Coast.  §  148.  The 
silver  ores  of  Washoe,  Esmeralda  and  Coso  are  nearly  all  sul- 
phuret  of  silver,  with  particles  of  native  silver  and  gold  inter- 
spersed. The  ores  are  peculiar,  and  different  from  ores  of  other 
argentiferous  countries,  because  they  bear  so  great  a  resem- 
blance to  each  other ;  whereas,  in  Mexico  and  Chile,  every 
mine  has  a  different  kind  of  ore,  and  an  experienced  miner  will 
tell  by  a  glance  at  a  specimen  the  name  of  the  mine  whence  it 
came.  South  of  Coso,  the  silver  ores  vary  more,  and  are 
mixed  with  lead,  copper,  antimony  and  arsenic,  in  greater  pro- 
portions. 

The  Reduction  of  Silver  Ores.  §  149.  Silver 
ores  are  pulverized  in  the  same  manner  as  gold  quartz ;  but 
beyond  that  pulverizing,  the  methods  of  treatment  differ  almost 
totally.  The  methods  applied  to  silver  are  scientific  and  too 
complex  to  be  described  fully  in  a  book  so  brief  as  this  must 


PROCESSES    OP    SILVER   MINING.  169 

be.  Besides,  it  is  asserted  that  several  new  modes  of  re- 
ducing silver  ore  have  been  invented  lately  in  California,  for 
each  of  which  the  merit  is  claimed  of  great  superiority 
over  all  methods  previously  in  use.  These  processes  are 
named  after  Mr.  Bagley,  Dr.  Yeatch  and  others,  their  re- 
.  spective  owners  or  inventors,  and  they  are  all  secret.  Their 
proprietors  are  well  known  and  held  in  high  respect  in  San 
Francisco,  and  their  claims  have  all  found  credence  among 
silver  miners.  The  Ophir  Company  has  adopted  the  Bagley 
process,  and  the  Central  Company  is  using  the  Yeatch  process. 
The  Ophir  Company  has  paid  $10,000  cash  for  the  privilege 
of  using  the  Bagley  process,  and  are  to  pay  two  and  one-half 
per  cent,  of  all  the  silver  obtained  by  it  for  three  years,  and  at 
the  end  of  that  time  they  are  to  have  the  privilege  of  pur- 
chasing the  right  of  using  the  process  for  their  claim  on  the 
payment  of  a  very  large  sum  of  money.  The  owners  of  the 
process,  on  the  other  hand,  give  a  heavy  bond  that  the  reduc- 
tion of  the  ore  shall  not  cost  more  than  thirty  dollars  per  ton — 
which  is  very  cheap.  The  inventor  of  the  process  says  that 
after  pulverization,  the  reduction  will  not  cost  fifteen  dollars 
per  ton.  Under  these  circumstances,  and  for  the  reason,  also, 
that  neither  the  new  nor  the  old  processes  have  yet  been  fully 
tried  in  Washoe,  and  adapted  to  the  circumstances  of  that 
place,  I  shall  devote  but  little  space  to  the  description  of  the 
processes  of  reducing  silver  ores. 

Silver  ore  is  pulverized  with  stamps  or  with  an  arastra.  The 
arastra  is  never  employed  for  amalgamating,  as  in  gold  mining, 
but  sometimes  it  is  used  in  washing  out  the  paste  after  amal- 
gamation. 

Silver  ores  are  reduced  by  many  processes,  the  principal  of 
which  are  smelting,  eliquation,  barrel  amalgamation,  patio 
amalgamation,  and  the  salt-solution  process. 

In  the  first  two  modes,  the  silver  is  separated  from  the  other 
minerals  by  the  assistance  of  lead  ;  and  the  metallic  mixture  of 
lead  and  silver  thus  obtained  is  purified  by  keeping  it  melted 
at  a  high  heat  for  some  hours,  whereby  the  base  metal  is  oxyd- 
ized  and  driven  off,  leaving  the  precious  metal  pure. 

In  the  three  last  processes,  the  silver  is  converted  into  a 
chloride,  in  which  condition  it  is  readily  separated  from  baser 
material.  Silver  has  a  very  strong  affinity  for  chlorine,  and 
whenever  brought  into  contact  with  common  salt,  takes  pos- 
session of  the  chlorine  contained  in  it. 
7 


170  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

The  amalgamating  processes  are  based  upon  the  facts  that 
silver,  when  in  a  pure  state,  is  caught  and  saved  by  quick- 
silver ;  that  while  quicksilver  has  no  influence  on  sulphuret  of 
silver,  which  is  found  in  nearly  all  silver  ores,  the  sulphuret  is 
decomposed  by  the  presence  of  common  salt,  the  chlorine  of 
which  unites  with  the  silver,  while  its  soda  unites  with  the  sul- 
phur ;  that  the  chloride  of  silver  thus  formed  is  again  decom- 
posed by  the  presence  of  either  quicksilver  or  iron,  both  of 
which  metals  are  preferred  by  the  chlorine  to  the  silver,  and 
the  latter  metal  is  left  free  to  be  taken  up  by  quicksilver, 
some  of  which  remains  pure,  though  a  portion  of  it  may  have 
been  converted  into  a  chloride  of  mercury. 

These  are  the  general  ideas  of  these  processes ;  now  for  a 
few  details. 

Silver  Smelting.  \  150.  In  smelting,  the  ore  is  mixed 
with  fifty  per  cent,  of  lead,  or  lead  ore  containing  that  amount 
of  lead,  and  ten  per  cent,  of  iron,  and  the  whole  mass  is  melted ; 
when  the  silver  is  allowed  to  run  out  through  a  hole  in  the 
bottom  of  the  furnace.  The  silver  thus  obtained  is  not  pure  ; 
but  it  is  put  into  a  furnace  and  kept  at  boiling  heat  for  some 
hours,  whereby  all  the  base  metals  are  driven  off.  This  pro- 
cess was  used  in  San  Francisco  during  the  winter  of  1859-'60, 
to  reduce  the  first  lot  of  ore  brought  down  from  the  Ophir 
claim.  The  company  paid  $41 2  per  ton  for  reducing  forty 
tons  ;  but  this  price  included  the  cost  of  erecting  furnaces,  etc. 
The  cost  to  the  smelter  per  ton,  after  the  erection  of  the  fur- 
naces, was  about  $125 — the  main  expense  being  in  the  lead, 
which  had  to  be  purchased  in  the  metallic  form  at  seven  cents 
per  pound,  no  lead  ore  being  obtainable. 

Salt  Solution  Process.  §151.  The  salt  solution  pro- 
cess is  as  follows  :  The  ore  is  roasted  with  five  per  cent,  of 
common  salt,  for  several  hours.  When  all  the  silver  has  been 
converted  into  a  chloride,  the  ore  is  thrown,  at  a  red  heat,  into 
a  boiling  saturated  solution  of  common  salt,  which  dissolves 
the  chloride  of  silver.  The  solution  is  then  filtered  while  still 
boiling  hot — that  high  heat  is  necessary  to  prevent  the  liquid 
from  depositing  the  silver  upon  the  earthy  matter  of  the  ore — 
and  the  metal  is  precipitated  by  the  addition  of  a  little  mu- 
riatic acid  and  some  pieces  of  copper. 


PROCESSES   OP   SILVER   MINING.  171 

Barrel  Amalgamation.  §  152.  In  the  barrel,  or  Eu- 
ropean amalgamation — it  is  also  called  the  Freyberg  process, 
from  the  place  where  it  was  invented — the  ore  containing  about 
twenty-five  per  cent,  of  iron  pyrites  is  roasted,  in  lots  of  five 
hundred  pounds  each,  in  furnaces  made  for  that  special  pur- 
pose. If  the  ore,  as  taken  from  the  mine,  does  not  contain 
twenty-five  per  cent,  of  iron  pyrites,  that  mineral  is  obtained 
elsewhere  and  added  ;  if  the  ore  contains  more  than  that  pro- 
portion, some  of  the  pyrites  is  picked  out  by  hand,  or  some  of 
the  pyrites  is  reduced  by  heat  before  the  commencement  of  the 
roasting.  The  ore  is  first  dried  for  twenty  minutes  ;  then  the 
fire  is  made  hot,  and  in  two  hours  the  mass  becomes  red  hot. 
The  fire  is  allowed  to  go  down,  and  the  mass  is  kept  at  a  low 
heat  until  the  ore  is  dark  in  color,  and  has  ceased  to  emit  any 
sulphurous  smell.  The  heat  is  then  raised  again  for  three-quar- 
ters of  an  hour. 

The  ore  is  now  taken  out  and  pulverized,  and  then  put 
through  the  barrel  amalgamation.  The  barrel  is  thirty-four 
inches  high,  and  thirty-four  inches  in  diameter  at  the  head.  It 
stands  upright  and  revolves  on  a  perpendicular  axis.  About 
half  a  ton  of  the  pulverized  ore,  three  hundred  pounds  of 
water,  and  one  hundred  pounds  of  wrought  iron  in  fragments 
an  inch  square  and  half  an  inch  thick,  are  put  into  the  barrel, 
which  is  then  set  to  revolving  rapidly.  At  the  end  of  two 
hours,  the  barrel  is  stopped  and  the  "  paste  "  examined  to  see 
whether  it  is  of  the  proper  thickness,  which  should  be  about 
that  of  thick  cream.  If  too  thin,  more  powdered  ore  is  added  ; 
if  too  thick,  more  water ;  and  the  barrel  is  set  to  revolving 
again  until  it  has  the  proper  consistence.  Then  five  hundred 
pounds  of  quicksilver  are  poured  into  each  cask,  which  must 
revolve  four  hours,  when  it  is  examined,  and  if  the  Consistence 
be  not  right,  water  or  ore  is  added  ;  if  right,  it  goes  on  revolv- 
ing four  hours  more,  when  another  examination  is  made,  and 
then  eight  hours  of  constant  revolution  finishes  the  amalgama- 
tion. The  barrel  is  filled  with  water,  made  to  revolve  slowly 
to  allow  the  amalgam  to  settle  to  the  bottom,  on  the  same 
principle  as  in  the  arastra  described  in  g  130,  and  at  the  end 
of  two  hours  the  mercury  is  allowed  to  run  into  a  pan  through 
a  little  hole  at  the  bottom  of  the  barrel.  The  whole  mass  of 
earthy  matter  is  afterwards  led  through  a  sluice,  to  catch  such 
amalgam  as  was  not  caught  in  the  pan.  There  are  ordinarily 
a  number  of  these  barrels  side  by  side.  They  will  amalgamate 


172  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

two-thirds  of  a  ton  each  in  twenty-four  hours.  The  ^  amalga- 
mation of  each  ton  costs  three  pounds  of  wrought  iron  and 
half  a  pound  of  mercury. 

The  amalgam  is  retorted  to  separate  the  quicksilver  from  it. 
The  metal  thus  obtained  usually  contains  a  considerable  pro- 
portion of  copper,  antimony  and  lead.  These  baser  metals  are 
removed  by  melting  the  lead  in  a  furnace,  keeping  it  melted  six 
or  eight  hours,  and  throwing  powdered  charcoal  on  its  surface, 
and  the  impurities  which  form  on  the  surface  of  the  silver  by 
the  combustion  of  the  baser  metals  are  skimmed  off,  leaving 
the  silver  pure. 

The  Patio  Process.  §  153.  The  patio  process,  or 
Mexican  mode  of  amalgamation,  is  managed  in  a  patio  or  amal- 
gamating yard,  closely  paved  with  granite.  Many  tons  may 
be  operated  upon  at  once — from  fifty  to  a  hundred  tons.  The 
ore  is  pulverized  finely  and  spread  out  in  the  patio  a  foot  deep. 
Over  the  ore  is  scattered  eight  per  cent.,  by  weight,  of  conir 
mon  salt,  and  the  mass  is  thoroughly  mixed  together  by  the 
tramping  of  horses.  After  lying  thus  a  day  it  is  again  trod- 
den over  by  horses  for  an  hour  or  two  ;  one  per  cent,  of  roasted 
copper  pyrites  is  added,  and  it  is  again  trodden.  A  man  now 
scatters  over  the  mass  three-quarters  of  a  pound  of  quicksilver 
for  every  hundred  pounds  of  the  ore.  The  scattering  is  done 
by  means  of  a  canvas  bag  into  which  the  quicksilver  is  put, 
and  by  shaking,  it  is  distributed  in  very  small  particles.  The 
horses  are  again  driven  through  the  mass  for  an  hour  or  two. 
This  is  done  every  day  until  it  is  found,  on  examination,  that 
all  the  quicksilver  has  been  taken  up.  Then  another  lot  of 
mercury  is  scattered  over  the  mass,  one-quarter  of  a  pound  to 
every  hundred  pounds  of  the  mass,  when  it  is  again  trodden  a 
little  every  clay,  until  all  that  quicksilver  is  taken  up  by  amal- 
gamation, when  another  lot  of  mercury— three-eighths  of  a 
pound  to  a  hundred  pounds  of  ore — is  added,  and  lying  some 
days,  with  occasional  treading,  the  amalgamation  is  complete. 
During  the  process,  the  miner  occasionally  takes  out  some  of 
the  mixture  and  washes  it  to  see  the  condition  of  the  amalgam. 
If  it  be  grayish  white  in  color,  and  can  be  readily  moulded  with 
the  fingers,  it  is  in  a  favorable  condition.  If  the  mercury  be 
divided  and  of  a  dark  color  with  occasional  brown  spots,  there 
is  too  much  copper  pyrites,  and  lime  is  added  to  neutralize  it. 
If  the  mercury  remains  fluid  and  there  is  little  amalgam,  there 


PROCESSES   OF   SILVER  MINING.  173 

is  too  little  pyrites  and  more  is  added,  The  amount  of  mer- 
cury to  be  used  depends  upon  the  richness  of  the  ore.  A  pound 
and  three-eighths  of  quicksilver  may  be  proper  for  ores  that 
pay  thirty-five  ounces  of  silver  to  the  ton.  The  progress  of 
the  amalgamation  depends  to  a  great  extent  on  the  heat  of  the 
weather ;  if  very  cold,  it  will  go  slowly  or  not  at  all.  The 
patio  process  will,  therefore,  not  be  used  in  Washoe  in  the  win- 
ter, and  probably  not  in  the  summer. 

After  the  amalgamation  is  complete,  the  mixture  is  put  into 
a  large  tub  in  which  there  is  a  perpendicular  revolving  shaft 
with  arms.  A  stream  of  water  runs  into  the  tub  on  one  side 
and  out  on  the  other,  carrying  away  the  earthy  particles  and 
leaving  the  amalgam  to  settle  at  the  bottom.  The  amalgam  is 
taken  out,  washed  again  and  then  retorted. 

The  Eliquation  Process.  \  154.  The  eliquation  pro- 
cess is  suitable  for  argentiferous  copper  ores.  The  ore  is  pul- 
verized, and  if  it  does  not  contain  lead,  lead  ore  also  pulverized 
is  thoroughly  mixed  with  it,  and  then  it  is  subjected  to  a  heat 
great  enough  to  melt  the  lead,  but  not  to  melt  the  copper. 
The  melted  lead  carries  off  the  silver  with  it.  A  peculiar 
furnace  is  used,  and  no  flame  is  admitted  to  the  ore,  for  that 
would  oxydize  the  lead  and  prevent  it  from  carrying  off  the 
silver.  Lead  melts  at  612°,  silver  at  1873°  and  copper  at 
1996°  Fahrenheit.  It  is  not  necessary  to  raise  the  heat  to 
such  a  degree  as  would  melt  the  silver  alone,  for  when  silver  is 
mixed  with  lead,  even  in  ore,  it  melts  at  a  much  lower  figure 
than  when  pure.  In  the  eliquation  process,  therefore,  a  heat  of 
about  1000°  is  sufficient.  The  process  is  one  of  the  most  ex- 
pensive and  unsatisfactory  of  all  those  used  in  reducing  silver 
ore,  but  yet  for  some  kinds  of  ore  it  is  the  best  known  mode  of 
treatment.  There  ought  to  be  about  four  times  as  much  lead 
as  copper  in  the  ore,  and  the  operation  is  most  complete  when 
there  are  fifteen  pounds  of  mixed  lead  and  copper  to  an  ounce 
of  silver.  If  there  be  more  than  twenty  ounces  of  silver  in  a 
hundred  pounds  of  ore,  much  of  the  silver  will  be  left  behind, 
and  the  remainder  must  be  put  through  the  process  a  second 
time.  At  least  one-tenth  of  the  silver  in  the  ore  is  left  behind 
after  every  eliquation. 

New  Processes,  g  155.  Several  new  processes  for  re- 
ducing silver  ores,  not  yet  described  in  the  standard  books  of 


174  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

metallurgy,  have  been  discovered  within  the  last  ten  years. 
For  notes  of  these  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  0.  Wennerhold.  The 
mercurial  solution  process  discovered  by  Yon  Fuchs,  a  Ger- 
man chemist,  is  as  follows  : 

To  one  hundred  parts  of  finely  pulverized  ore,  add  water 
sufficient  to  make  a  thin  pulp,  which  is  to  be  heated  in  a  shal- 
low iron  pan.  Dissolve  four  parts  of  sulphate  of  mercury  in 
fifteen  parts  of  water,  and  put  six  parts  of  common  salt  in 
twelve  parts  of  water  ;  mix  the  two  solutions,  and  pour  them 
upon  the  heated  pulp.  The  mixture  must  be  stirred  and  kept 
at  a  boiling  heat  for  a  few  hours,  till  a  piece  of  bright  iron, 
when  dipped  into  it  for  a  few  minutes,  is  not  covered  with 
metallic  mercury.  If  the  iron  should  be  covered  with  the  mer- 
cury, the  boiling  must  be  continued.  When  the  mixture  has 
been  boiled  sufficiently,  take  from  the  fire  and  pour  in  ten  parts 
of  metallic  mercury.  If  the  ore  contains  much  iron  pyrites,  it 
should  be  roasted  before  going  into  the  kettle.  Before  the 
mercury  has  been  put  in,  add  seven  parts  of  iron  filings. 

The  theory  of  this  process  is,  that  the  solution  of  mercury 
comes  into  contact  with  every  particle  of  silver,  and  while  the 
sulphuric  acid  attacks  the  iron,  the  mercury  takes  up  the  silver. 
If  experiments  were  to  be  made  with  this  process  in  California, 
where  sulphate  of  mercury  is  not  easily  to  be  obtained,  corro- 
sive sublimate  or  bi-chloride  of  mercury  might  be  used  instead. 

The  Muldener  process,  so  called  because  it  is  used  at  Mulden 
in  Hanover,  is  applied  for  reducing  argentiferous  copper  ore, 
containing  sixty  per  cent,  of  copper,  twelve  per  cent,  of  lead 
and  from  one-third  to  one-half  of  one  per  cent,  of  silver.  After 
being  pulverized,  the  ore  is  roasted  in  a  double  reverberatory 
furnace,  first  in  the  upper,  then  in  the  lower  hearth.  About  a 
pound  of  coal  is  consumed  to  a  pound  of  ore  in  the  furnace. 
The  roasted  ore  is  ground,  and  then,  after  mixing  eight  per 
cent,  of  common  salt,  is  roasted  again,  whereby  the  silver  is 
converted  into  a  chloride.  The  ore  is  now  placed  in  a  wooden 
tank  with  a  false  bottom,  which  acts  as  a  filter,  and  a  heavy 
column  of  water  resting  upon  the  ore,  and  gradually  filtering 
through  it,  dissolves  and  carries  away  all  the  sulphate  of  soda, 
made  by  the  union  of  the  sulphur  of  the  ore  with  the  soda  of 
the  salt  and  oxygen  of  the  air.  The  ore,  freed  from  the  sul- 
phate of  soda,  is  treated  again  in  a  similar  method  with  a  so- 
lution of  common  salt,  to  dissolve  the  chloride  of  silver,  which 
metal  is  then  obtained  from  the  liquid  by  precipitation  with 


PROCESSES  OF   SILVER  MINING.  175 

metallic  copper.  The  copper  remaining  in  the  ore  is  smelted 
out. 

The  Blaschka  process,  (so  named  from  its  discoverer,  W. 
BJaschka)  is  a  combination  of  the  process  of  Ziervogel,  for  the 
extraction  of  silver,  with  that  of  Plattner,  for  the  extraction 
of  gold. 

The  main  idea  of  the  Ziervogel  process,  is  to  form  sulphate 
of  silver,  and  then  separate  it  with  water.  In  this  process,  the 
nature  of  the  ore  must  be  very  accurately  known.  If  the  me- 
tallic substance  be  only  sulphurets  of  silver  and  copper,  a 
proper  roasting  suffices.  If  there  be  much  metallic  silver  in 
the  ore,  the  former  may  be  converted  into  a  sulphate  with  sul- 
phuric acid,  with  or  without  roasting,  or  by  passing  the  fumes 
of  sulphuric  acid  over  the  ore  while  in  the  reverberatory  fur- 
nace. 

If  a  sulphuret  of  arsenic  or  of  antimony  be  in  the  ore,  the 
latter  must  be  mixed  with  an  equal  amount  of  copperas  before 
roasting,  to  prevent  the  formation  of  the  arseniate  of  silver. 
The  roasting  must  be  continued  until  a  sample  of  the  ore, 
taken  from  the  furnace  and  submitted  to  the  proper  tests,  shows 
no  protoxide  of  iron.  The  ore  is  then  taken  out  of  the  fur- 
nace immediately ;  and  the  sulphate  of  silver  is  extracted  in 
large  wooden  tanks,  with  water.  One  part  of  sulphate  of  silver 
requires  eighty-eight  parts  of  water  to  dissolve  it.  The  silver 
is  then  precipitated  as  a  chloride  with  salt,  or  as  a  metal  with 
copper. 

After  the  silver  has  thus  been  extracted,  the  ore  goes  through 
the  very  ingenious  process  of  Plattner  for  separating  the  gold, 
by  the  formation  of  chloride  of  that  metal.  This  method,  so 
far  as  known,  has  not  been  tried  on  a  large  scale.  Gi-eat  care 
must  be  taken  in  this  process,  that  the  ore  contanis  neither 
metallic  iron  nor  undecomposed  sulphurets,  arsenious  acid,  an- 
timony, sulphate  of  iron,  nor  any  metallic  oxides  soluble  in 
water. 

After  all  the  silver  has  been  extracted,  the  ore,  mixed  with 
water,  is  placed  on  a  layer  of  quartz  sand  on  the  false  bottom 
of  a  large  wooden  tank,  which  is  closed  very  tightly,  and  chlo- 
rine is  introduced  until  all  the  gold  is  formed  into  a  chloride, 
which  is  dissolved  in  water,  filtered,  and  then  precipitated  with 
copperas. 


CHAPTER    XL 

THE  LAWS  OF  MINING  IN  CALIFORNIA. 


Publio  Mining  Land  open  to  alL  f  156.  The 
miners  occupy  the  public  mineral  lauds  of  California  with  the 
express  consent  of  the  State,  and  with  the  implied  consent  of 
the  Federal  Congress  ;  and  they  will  undoubtedly  be  protected 
in  all  their  possessions  held  in  accordance  with  the  State  laws 
and  the  local  mining  regulations.  The  Federal  Government 
owns  nearly  all  the  mineral  laud,  and  has  shown  its  intention 
to  leave  the  miners  in  possession  of  their  claims,  by  taking  no 
measures  to  disturb  them>  by  directing  the  Federal  Surveyor 
to  stop  his  surveys  on  reaching  the  bounds  of  the  mineral  dis- 
tricts, and  by  refusing  to  sell  the  land,  or  open  it  to  preemp- 
tion for  agricultural  purposes* 

Mineral  Land  owned  in  fee,  $  157.  A  small  por- 
tion of  the  mineral  land  belongs  in  fee  simple  to  private  indi- 
viduals holding  under  grant  from  Mexico,  Under  the  mining 
laws  of  most  mining  countries,  miners  have  the  right  of  enter- 
ing upon  private  land  sand  taking  out  the  minerals ;  but  they 
have  no  such  right  in  California.  The  Supreme  Court  of  the 
State  have  decided  that  the  ownership  of  the  land  carries  the 
minerals  witli  it.  The  opinion  in  the  case  of  Fremont  vs. 
Flower,  says : 

"The  construction  given  by  the  United  States  to  their 
patents  ever  since  the  organization  of  the  government,  has 
uniformly  been  to  the  same  effect.  In  several  of  the  States, 
particularly  those  carved  out  of  territories  ceded  by  Virginia, 
North  Carolina  and  Georgia,  and  out  of  the  territory  acquired 
by  the  treaty  with  France  in  1803,  and  by  the  treaty  with 
Spain  in  1819,  the  title  to  a  large  portion  of  the  lauds  is  held 


THE   LAWS   OF   MINING    IN   CALIFORNIA.  177 

under  patents  from  the  United  States.  Some  of  these  patents 
were  issued  upon  a  sale  of  lands — some  of  them  upon  a  dona- 
tion of  lands,  and  some  of  them  upon  a  confirmation  by  Board 
of  Commissioners  of  previously  existing  grants  of  the  former 
governments.  Patents  upon  such  confirmation  were  issued  to 
extensive  tracts  in  the  territories  of  Louisiana,  Mississippi  and 
Florida,  and  in  the  lands,  which  the  patents  conveyed,  minerals 
of  gold  and  silver,  and  of  other  metals,  in  many  cases  existed. 
Yet  in  no  instance,  whether  the  patents  were  issued  upon  a 
sale,  or  donation  of  lands,  or  upon  a  confirmation  of  a  previ- 
ously existing  grant,  have  the  United  States  asserted  any  right 
to  the  mines  as  being  reserved  from  the  operation  of  the  pat- 
ents. They  have  uniformly  regarded  the  patents  as  transfer- 
ring all  interests  which  they  could  possess  in  the  soil,  and 
everything  imbedded  in  or  connected  therewith.  Whenever 
they  have  claimed  mines,  it  has  been  as  part  of  the  lands  in 
which  they  were  contained,  and  whenever  they  have  reserved 
the  minerals  from  sale  or  other  disposition,  it  has  only  been  by 
reserving  the  lands  themselves.  It  has  never  been  the  policy 
of  the  United  States  to  possess  interests  in  land  in  connection 
with  individuals." 

In  1853,  our  Supreme  Court,  then  composed  of  other  Jus- 
tices, rendered  a  decision  that  all  the  valuable  minerals  in  the 
earth  belong  to  the  State,  by  virtue  of  her  sovereignty ;  as 
under  the  English  law,  the  monarch  is  owner  of  all  mines  as  an 
attribute  of  his  sovereignty.  In  regard  to  this  point  the  Court, 
in  their  latest  decision,  say  : 

"  Sovereignty  is  a  term  used  to  express  the  supreme  political 
authority  of  an  independent  State  or  nation.  Whatever  rights 
are  essential  to  the  existence  of  this  authority,  are  "rights  of 
sovereignty.  Thus,  the  right  to  declare  war,  to  make  treaties 
of  peace,  to  levy  taxes,  to  take  private  property  for  public 
uses,  termed  the  right  of  eminent  domain,  are  all  rights  of  sov- 
ereignty, for  they  are  rights  essential  to  the  existence  of  supreme 
political  authority.  In  this  country  this  authority  is  vested  in 
the  people,  and  is  exercised  through  the  joint  action  of  their 
Federal  and  State  Governments.  To  the  Federal  Government 
is  delegated  the  exercise  of  certain  rights  or  power  of  sover- 
eignty ;  and  with  respect  to  sovereignty,  rights  and  powers  are 
synonymous  terms  ;  and  the  exercise  of  all  other  rights  of  sov- 
ereignty, except  as  expressly  prohibited,  is  reserved  to  the  peo- 
ple of  the  respective  States,  or  vested  by  them  in  their  local 


178  HAND-BOOK   OP  MINING. 

governments.  When  we  say,  therefore,  that  a  State  of  the 
Union  is  sovereign,  we  only  mean  that  she  possesses  supreme 
political  authority,  except  as  to  those  matters  over  which  such 
authority  is  delegated  to  the  Federal  Government,  or  prohib- 
ited to  the  States ;  in  other  words,  that  she  possesses  all  the 
rights  and  powers  essential  to  the  existence  of  an  independent 
political  organization,  except  as  they  are  withdrawn  by  the 
provisions  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  To  the 
existence  of  this  political  authority  of  the  State — this  qualified 
sovereignty,  or  to  any  part  of  it—the  ownership  of  the  miner- 
als of  gold  and  silver  found  within  her  limits  is  in  no  way  es- 
sential. The  minerals  do  not  differ  from  the  great  mass  of 
property,  the  ownership  of  which  may  be  in  the  United  States 
or  in  individuals,  without  affecting  in  any  respect  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  State.  They  may  be  acquired  by  the  State,  as  any 
other  proprety  may  be,  but  when  thus  acquired,  she  will  hold 
them  in  the  same  manner  that  individual  proprietors  hold  their 
property,  and  by  the  same  right ;  by  the  right  of  ownership, 
and  not  by  any  right  of  sovereignty." 

The  Federal  Judges  in  California  seem  to  hold  the  same 
views  of  the  law.  In  the  New  Almaden  quicksilver  mine  case, 
the  U.  S.  District  Court,  in  their  decree  confirming  the  claim, 
say: 

"  And  it  is  likewise  ordered,  adjudged  and  decreed,  that  the 
claim  and  title  of  the  petitioner,  Andres  Castillero,  to  the  mine 
known  by  the  name  of  New  Almaden,  in  Santa  Clara  county, 
Northern  District  of  the  State  of  California,  is  a  good  and 
valid  claim  and  title,  and  that  the  said  Andres  Castillero  and 
his  assigns  are  the  owners  thereof,  and  of  all  the  ores  and  min- 
erals of  whatsoever  description  therein,  in  fee  simple  :  And  it 
is  further  adjudged  and  decreed,  that  the  said  mine  is  a  piece 
of  land  embracing  a  superficial  area,  measured  on  a  horizontal 
plane,  equivalent  to  seven  perteuencias,  [about  fifty  acres] 
each  pertenencia  being  a  solid  of  a  rectangular  base  two  hun- 
dred Castilian  varas  long,  of  the  width  established  by  the  Or- 
denanzas  de  Mineria  of  1783,  and  in  depth  extending  from  and 
including  the  surface,  down  to  the  center  of  the  earth ;  said 
pertenencias  to  be  located  in  such  manner  as  the  said  Andres 
Castillero  or  his  assigns  may  select,  subject  to  the  following 
conditions :  first,  that  the  said  pertenencias  shall  be  contigu- 
ous, that  is  to  say,  in  one  body  ;  and  secondly,  that  within  them 
shall  be  included  the  original  mouth  of  the  said  mine  known  as 
'  New  Almaden.' " 


THE   LAWS   OP    MINING   IN   CALIFORNIA.  179 

This  decree  is  made  under  a  law  to  confirm  valid  land  titles 
granted  by  Mexico,  but  Mexico  never  gave  a  fee  simple  title 
to  minerals ;  mines  were  always  and  still  are  held  in  Mexico 
only  while  they  are  worked,  and  neglect  to  work  them  causes  a 
forfeiture  and  justifies  any  new  claimant  in  taking  possession. 
The  Mexican  system  is  unsuited  to  the  American  modes  of 
doing  business,  and  at  variance  with  the  principles  of  Ameri- 
can jurisprudence. 

The  principal  tracts  of  private  land  containing  mines,  are 
the  ranchos  of  J.  C.  Fremont,  in  Mariposa  county,  of  the  heirs 
of  J.  L.  Folsom,  in  Sacramento  county,  of  John  Bidwell,  in 
Butte  county,  of  P.  B.  Reading,  in  Shasta  county,  of  Charles 
Fossatt,  and  the  New  Almaden  Mining  Company,  in  Santa 
Clara  county. 

Foreign  Miners.  \  158.  All  citizens  have  a  right  to 
mine  on  any  of  the  public  land  in  the  State,  without  paying 
any  tax  or  license  for  that  privilege.  Aliens  are  required  by 
law  to  pay  a  license  of  four  dollars  per  month  for  the  privilege 
of  mining.  Any  person  or  company  hiring  aliens  to  work  a 
mining  claim,  or  renting  a  claim  to  them,  or  interested  with 
them  as  partners  in  mining,  is  responsible  for  the  license  money. 
Private  parties,  however,  have  no  right  to  eject  aliens  from 
their  claims,  because  of  their  neglect  or  refusal  to  pay  the 
license.  The  collector  of  the  foreign  miners'  tax  has  broad 
powers  to  enforce  the  payment  of  the  tax,  including  authority 
to  sieze  the  alien's  claim  and  tools,  and  sell  them  at  a  very 
brief  notice.  This  law  is  intended  chiefly  to  levy  a  tax  on 
Chinamen,  and  in  many  districts  no  attempt  is  made  to  collect 
anything  from  Irish,  German,  French  and  other  European 
miners. 

It  is  very  clear  to  my  mind  that  the  whole  foreign  mirier  act 
is  at  variance  with  a  clause  of  the  State  Constitution,  (Sec.  17, 
Art.  1)  which  says  :  "  Foreigners  who  are  or  may  hereafter  be- 
come bona  fide  residents  of  the  State,  shall  enjoy  the  same 
rights  in  regard  to  the  possession,  enjoyment  and  inheritance  of 
property  as  native-born  citizens."  It  is  not  to  be  denied  that 
mining  claims  are  property ;  and  yet  the  Legislature  declares 
that  aliens  shall  not  have  "  the  same  rights  in  regard  to  '  their ' 
possession  and  enjoyment "  as  native-born  citizens.  The  for- 
eign miner  act  begins  thus  :  "  No  person,  not  being  a  citizen 
of  the  United  States,  or  who  shall  not  have  declared  his  inten- 


180  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

tion  to  become  such,  prior  to  the  passage  of  this  act,  (Califor- 
nia Indians  alone  excepted)  shall  be  allowed  to  take  gold  from 
the  mines  of  this  State,  unless  he  shall  have  a  license  therefor." 
The  Supreme  Court  have  decided  that  the  foreign  miner  license 
is  constitutional,  and  their  decision  settles  the  law,  but  it  does 
not  make  the  right  or  convince  the  reason.  The  decision  as- 
serting the  constitutionality  of  the  act  against  foreign  miners 
was  rendered  some  years  ago,  and  I  think  the  present  Judges 
might  reverse  the  judgment  of  their  predecessors. 

If,  however,  the  foreign  miner  act  be  constitutional  and  valid, 
it  is  clear  that  under  it,  every  alien  who  pays  his  license  is  en- 
titled to  take  up  and  hold  mining  claims,  in  the  same  manner 
and  to  the  same  extent  as  citizens.  That  right  is  promised 
when  the  license  is  exacted,  and  the  Government  is  in  honor 
bound  to  protect  aliens  in  the  exercise  of  that  right  so  long  as 
the  Constitution  and  laws  remain  as  at  present.  The  mining 
regulations  of  many  of  the  mineral  districts  prohibit  the  hold- 
ing or  working  of  claims  by  Chinamen ;  but  this  prohibition 
must  be  held  void  by  the  Courts,  though  it  may  be  enforced  by 
the  power  of  the  mob,  against  which  the  officers  of  the  law  are 
often  powerless.  The  law  may  authorize  a  Chinaman  to  hold 
and  work  a  claim,  but  if  all  the  miners  of  a  district  tell  him 
he  shall  not  hold  or  work  it,  prudence  will  require  him  to  obey 
their  orders.  These  mining  regulations  have  not  been  sub- 
jected to  much  trial  in  our  Courts,  and  we  have  no  authorita- 
tive guide  as  yet  about  their  legal  force  in  such  cases. 

Foreigners  mining  on  private  lands,  and  holding  a  lease  from 
the  land  owner,  are  not  subject  to  the  foreign  miners'  tax. 

Authority  of  Miners'  Regulations.  \  159.  In 
the  case  of  the  Dutch  Flat  Water  Company  vs.  Mooney  and 
others,  (1.2  Cal.,  534)  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  said  :— 
"  We  do  not  decide  the  question  as  to  the  power  of  a  mining 
district  to  pass  a  valid  regulation,  declaring  the  tenure  of  this 
species  of  property  [mining  claims]  to  be  different  from  that 
created  by  general  law."  Since  that  decision,  nothing  has  been 
done  touching  the  matter  by  either  the  Legislature  or  the  Su- 
preme Court,  and,  therefore,  the  question  still  remains  in  doubt. 
I  presume,  however,  that  the  mining  regulations  cannot  set 
aside  the  statutes  of  the  State. 

In  a  previous  case  (Waring  vs.  Crow,  11  Cal.  366)  the 
Court  had  said ;  "The  plaintiff's  right  having  been  fixed  by 


THE   LAWS    OF   MINING   IN    CALIFORNIA.  181 

these  rules  of  property,  whieh  are  a  part  of  the  general  law  of 
the  land,  could  not  be  divested  by  any  mere  neighborhood  cus- 
tom or  regulation." 

The  foreign  miner  act  does  not  extend  to  Utah,  nor  is  there 
any  probability  that  any  similar  statute  will  ever  be  adopted 
there,  where  wealthy  capitalists  and  not  roving  placer  diggers 
will  control  the  legislation  relating  to  the  mines.  Many  aliens 
are  now  among  the  owners  of  the  richest  lodes  in  the  silver 
districts. 

Mode  of  taking  up  Claims.  1 160.  Any  man  en- 
titled to  mine  may  take  up  a  claim  for  himself  or  for  a  com- 
pany. If  for  himself,  he  goes  to  the  Recorder,  gives  him  a 
description  of  the  claim,  and  pays  the  fee.  The  Recorder 
copies  the  description  of  the  claim,  which  thereby  becomes  the 
property  of  the  claimant,  subject  to  the  mining  laws. 

If  the  miner  wishes  to  locate  claims  for  a  company,  he  gives 
a  list  of  the  names  of  the  members  of  the  company  to  the 
Recorder,  and  describes  a  tract  of  ground  as  large  as  that 
number  of  persons  may  be  entitled  to  hold.  If  there  be  nine 
members  in  the  company,  and  each  man  may  hold  one  hundred 
feet  square,  then  the  claim  may  be  three  hundred  feet  square  or 
nine  hundred  feet  long  by  one  hundred  wide.  In  auriferous 
quartz  or  silver  districts,  the  claims  usually  have  a  certain 
length  on  the  lode,  with  as  much  ground  on  each  side  as  may 
be  necessary  for  working.  The  ordinary  length  of  a  claim  for 
one  man,  in  the  silver  districts,  is  two  hundred  feet.  Some- 
times two  parallel  lodes  are  found  within  ten  feet  of  each  other, 
and  in  such  cases  great  inconveniences  may  ensue ;  for  one  com- 
pany has  no  right  to  claim  both  lodes,  and  yet  the*  two  lodes 
are  so  near  together  that  the  works  and  workmen  of  one  lode 
may  be  in  the  way  of  those  of  the  other.  In  some  quartz  dis- 
tricts of  California,  a  claimant  not  only  gets  the  lode,  but  two 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  on  each  side  of  it,  with  all  the  minerals 
and  veins.  This  secures  him  in  the  possession  of  abundant 
elbow  room  for  his  working.  When  the  locator  of  a  claim  for 
a  company  makes  his  appearance  with  a  list  of  names,  the 
Recorder  puts  them  down  without  inquiry.  He  has  no  author- 
ity to  inquire  where  the  persons  live,  or  whether  they  live  at 
all.  The  fact  that  they  are  not  miners  or  have  never  been  in 
the  district,  or  are  women  or  children,  even  if  established,  does 
not  prevent  the  claim  from  beiftg  good  and  the  title  perfect,  if 


182  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

made  in  accordance  with  the  mining  laws.  It  is  not  necessary 
to  render  a  title  perfect  that  the  owner  should  ever  see  it  in 
person.  In  some  districts  the  miners'  regulations  require  the 
Recorder  to  visit  the  ground  before  he  enters  a  claim  on  his 
books.  This  is  a  wise  provision  and  ought  to  find  a  place  in 
every  code.  It  is  the  only  certain  method  of  preventing  a  con- 
flict of  claims,  which  otherwise  is  likely  to  occur. 

Incorporated  Mining  Companies.  \  161.  Many 
mines,  including  most,  if  not  all  the  important  silver  lodes  in 
Washoe,  are  wrought  by  joint  stock  companies,  incorporated 
under  the  laws  of  California.  The  causes  why  they  are  incor- 
porated in  California,  are,  that  most  of  the  owners  live  in 
California ;  that  most  of  the  capital  for  opening  the  mines 
goes  from  here  ;  that  there  is  no  law  of  incorporation  in 
Utah,  suitable  to  the  case ;  and  that  Salt  Lake  City  is  far 
more  remote  in  distance,  and  in  business  communication,  from 
"Washoe,  than  is  San  Francisco.  These  joint  stock  companies 
are  formed  in  the  following  manner  :  Some  persons — not  less 
than  three  in  number — owning  most,  or  all  of  the  feet  in  a 
claim,  meet  and  agree  to  form  a  company.  If  there  be  seven 
members  in  the  company,  they  may  own  1,400  feet  of  a  lode. 
They  may  value  the  lode  at  one  hundred  dollars,  or  five  hun- 
dred dollars  a  foot,  always  putting  the  estimate  high  enough. 
Usually  they  make  a  share  for  each  longitudinal  foot,  and 
multiplying  their  estimate  of  the  value  of  a  foot  by  the 
number  of  feet,  they  get  the  amount  of  the  capital  stock. 
Thus,  1,400  feet,  would  make  1,400  shares,  and  at  five  hun- 
dred dollars  a  share,  the  total  capital  stock  of  the  company 
would  be  $700,000.  The  formation  of  such  a  company,  and  its 
incorporation  under  the  laws  of  California,  does  not  prove 
that  the  lode  is  worth  a  dollar,  or  that  the  company  own  a 
dollar,  individually  or  collectively.  When  they  desire  to  be 
incorporated,  they  draw  up  a  certificate,  which  states  the 
name  of  the  company,  its  purpose,  the  time  for  which  it  is  to 
exist,  the  amount  of  its  capital  stock;  the  number  of  shares, 
the  value  of  each  share  ;  the  names  of  the  first  Board  of 
Trustees  ;  the  term  for  which  they  are  to  serve ;  and  their 
principal  place  of  business.  This  certificate,  signed  by  about 
half  a  dozen  persons,  of  those  forming  the  company,  (the 
signatures  usually  including  all  the  Trustees)  acknowledged 
before  a  notary,  or  officer  authorized  to  take  acknowledg- 


THE   LAWS   OF   MINING    IN   CALIFORNIA.  183 

ments  of  deeds,  is  filed  in  the  office  of  the  County  Clerk,  and 
an  original  duplicate  is  filed  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary 
of  State.  They  are  thus  fully  incorporated ;  can  adopt  a 
constitution  and  by-laws ;  elect  officers ;  and  go  to  work. 
Their  first  official  act  is,  to  receive  a  deed  of  trust  of  the 
whole  lead,  and  then  issue  stock  to  those  who  made  the  deed, 
giving  to  each  the  number  of  shares  of  stock  corresponding 
to  the  number  of  feet  which  he  owns  on  the  mine.  The 
deed  or  deeds  of  trust  should  be  made  after  the  incorportion 
of  the  company ;  but  may  be  made  before,  when  the  list  of 
Trustees  has  been  settled  upon  in  advance.  The  corpora- 
tion law  of  California  says  that  the  stock  of  companies  incor- 
porated for  mining  purposes,  "  shall  be  deemed  personal  estate, 
and  shall  be  transferred  in  such  manner  as  may  be  prescribed 
by  the  by-laws  of  the  company  ;  but  no  transfer  shall  be  valid, 
except  between  the  parties  thereto,  until  the  same  shall  have 
been  so  entered  on  the  books  of  the  company  as  to  show  the 
names  of  the  parties  by  and  to  whom  transferred,  the  num- 
ber and  designation  of  the  shares,  and  the  date  of  the  transfer." 
Whether  these  principles  will  be  adopted  in  Utah,  is  not  yet 
finally  established  ;  and  I  think  prudence  requires  that  transfer 
of  valuable  interests  in  mines  should  be  made  under  seal, 
acknowledged  and  recorded,  as  deeds  of  other  real  estate. 
These  formalities  should  be  observed  in  California,  also,  in  the 
transfer  of  interests  in  lodes,  which  are  owned  by  companies 
not  incorporated.  In  claims  held  by  companies,  the  members 
are  said  to  own  a  certain  number  of  feet ;  but  the  interest  is 
undivided ;  and  a  man  owning  one  hundred  feet  in  a  claim 
1,400  feet  long,  really  owns  a  fourteenth  part  of  the  claim;  is 
entitled  to  a  fourteenth  of  its  profits,  and  is  liable  for  ^fourteenth 
of  its  debts  ;  but  he  is  not  exclusive  owner  of  any  part  of  the  • 
claim.  When  he  becomes  exclusive  owner  of  any  piece  of 
ground,  the  company  ceases  to  exist,  so  far  as  he  is  sole  pro- 
prietor. 

Decisions  of  Supreme  Court.  $ 162.  Many  prin- 
ciples of  mining  law  have  been  determined  by  the  decisions  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  California,  and  in  the  succeeding  para- 
graphs I  state  some  of  these,  referring  to  the  cases  in  which 
the  principles  were  set  forth.  As  the  abbreviations  of  refer- 
ence may  not  be  understood  by  some  persons,  I  will  explain. 
The  reference  to  ("  Fitzgerald  vs.  Urton,  5  CaL  308  ")  means 


184  HAND-BOOK   OP   MINING. 

that  the  principle  was  stated  in  the  opinion  rendered  by  the 
Court,  in  the  case  of  Fitzgerald  against  Urton,  a  report  of 
which  will  be  found  on  the  308th  page  of  the  fifth  volume  of 
the  official  reports  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  California. 

Mining  Laws  in  Nevada.  \  163.  There  are  no  stat- 
utes, or  published  decisions  in  Nevada,  relating  to  mining  ;  but 
Judge  Cradlebaugh,  the  Federal  Judge  of  the  district  includ- 
ing Washoe  and  part  of  Esmeralda,  has  decided  that  the 
laws  and  usages  of  California,  in  regard  to  mining,  will  be 
considered  as  authorities  in  his  Court.  The  principle  is  a 
sound  one,  and  will  give  satisfaction  to  those  owning  mining 
claims  in  Nevada, 

Mining  on  Pre-emption  Claims.  §  164.  While 
the  miner  has  no  right  to  enter  upon  private  land,  held  in  fee 
simple,  he  may  enter  upon  preemption  claims,  and  search  for 
minerals.  Congress  has  excluded  the  mineral  lands  from  the 
operation  of  the  preemption  laws  ;  but  many  persons,  neverthe- 
less, have  gone  into  the  mining  districts,  and  laid  claim  there, 
to  tracts  of  land  for  farming  and  grazing  purposes.  In  case 
the  land  is  covered  with  growing  crops,  fruit  trees  or  build- 
ings, the  farmer  may  require  the  miner  to  give  bond  to  pay  for 
all  damages  done  to  the  crop,  trees  or  buildings.  (Acts  of 
April,  1852,  and  April,  1855.) 

The  miner,  however,  has  no  right  to  enter  upon  town  lots, 
in  actual  occupation.  (Fitzgerald  v.  Urton,  5  Cal.,  308.) 

A  miner  has  no  right  to  take  a  ditch  through  a  farmer's 
enclosure,  at  least,  not  near  his  house  and  corral.  (Burge  v. 
Underwood,  6  Cat.,  45.) 

Limits  of  Claims  Downwards.  §  165.  A  placer 
claim  goes  down  perpendicularly  from  the  surface  ;  and  usually 
a  quartz  claim  follows  the  lode  as  deep  into  the  earth  as  it  may 
go.  On  several  occasions  there  have  been  disputes  between 
placer  miners  and  quartz  miners,  where  the  lodes  of  the  latter 
have  run  under  the  claims  of  the  former.  But  no  question  of 
this  kind  has  ever  come  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
State ;  nor  is  any  provision  made  for  a  determination  of  the 
title,  in  such  a  case,  by  any  of  the  local  mining  regulations 
known  to  me.  A  suit  involving  this  question  came  up  before 
the  District  Court  in  Yuba  county,  several  years  ago.  The 
Marys ville  News  reported  the  case  as  follows  : 


THE   LAWS   OP   MINING    IN    CALIFORNIA.  185 

"The  case,  which  was  tried  before  the  District  Court  in 
Yuba  county,  without  a  jury,  was  that  of  B.  F.  Reed  et  al., 
vs.  Bruce  Frye  et  al.  The  plaintiffs  claimed  a  quartz  ledge  in 
the  ground  of  the  defendants,  under  some  rules  made  by  an 
association  of  about  ten  persons,  after  the  ground  was  taken 
up  for  placer  mining  by  the  defendants  ;  the  plaintiff  claiming 
quartz  mining  to  be  a  separate  and  distinct  branch,  and  that 
a  miner  could  not  hold  a  placer  claim  and  a  quartz  ledge  at 
the  same  time,  even  though  it  be  in  his  own  ground,  unless  he 
claim  it  specially  as  a  quartz  claim,  separately  from  his  min- 
ing claim.  The  plaintiffs  did  not  claim  the  mining  ground  in 
their  complaint,  nor  establish  any  prior  right  to  the  ledge. 
The  defendants  proved  their  right  to  the  ground,  and  that  they 
knew  of  the  existence  of  the  ledge,  and  claimed  it  with  their 
mining  ground.  They  also  proved  that  the  law  under  which 
the  ground  was  taken  up  allowed  a  miner  to  hold  from  bank 
to  bank,  in  a  ravine,  and  that  no  side  claims  were  allowed  to 
be  taken  up  on  a  ravine  in  that  district.  His  Honor  decided 
that,  when  a  claim  was  taken  up  for  mining  purposes,  the 
occupant  was  entitled  to  all  the  mineral  found  in  that  claim, 
whether  in  the  earth  or  quartz  ;  and,  also,  that  the  owner  of  a 
quartz  ledge  could  not  follow  it  through  the  ground  of  another 
party,  unless  the  ledge  was  located  and  its  boundaries  defined 
before  the  ground  was  claimed  and  legally  located." 

This  suit,  however,  does  not  present  the  question  fairly.  Let 
us  'suppose  that  A  locates  a  placer  claim  ;  and,  subsequently, 
B  locates  a  quartz  claim  on  a  lode  which  is  found  to  run  under 
A's  claim  and  forms  its  bed-rock  ;  who  owns  that  part  of  the 
lode  perpendicularly  under  A's  placer  claim  ?  Or,  let  us  sup- 
pose that  a  hundred  perpendicular  feet  of  granite  lie  between 
the  bottom  of  the  dirt  in  A's  claim  and  the  lode  passing  under 
it ;  who  owns  that  part  of  the  lode  under  A's  claim  ?  In  the 
former  case,  I  think  A  should  be  the  owner ;  and  in  the  latter 
B.  These  are  cases,  however,  which  will  not  often  happen  ; 
for  it  is  a  general  rule  that  where  the  quartz  is  rich,  the  placers 
are  poor. 

If,  however,  the  quartz  claim  be  located  first,  I  presume 
there  would  be  no  doubt  that  the  quartz  miner  would  be  en- 
titled to  the  whole  lode,  without  any  restriction  because  of  the 
subsequent  location  of  a  placer  claim  over  a  portion  of  the  vein. 

When  mining  claims  are  located,  notice  is  usually  given  that 
they  are  taken  for  "  mining  purposes,"  and  the  words  "  placer" 


186  HAND-BOOK   OP   MINING. 

or  "  quartz  lode  "  are  not  mentioned  ;  but  the  kind  of  ground 
indicates  whether  the  claim  is  to  go  down  perpendicularly  to 
the  bed-rock,  or  run  at  an  inclination  to  the  horizon  with  a 
vein. 

While  quartz  claims  ordinarily  follow  the  lode,  with  its  dips 
and  angles,  to  the  full  extent  of  its  depth,  there  are  a  few  dis- 
tricts (including  Grass  Valley,  I  believe)  where  the  quartz 
claims  go  down  perpendicularly. 

Pluming  and  Tailing  Claims.  |  166.  There  are 
claims  which  do  not  carry  any  right  to  the  minerals.  For 
instance :  a  company  may  claim  a  piece  of  land  for  fluming 
purposes,  and  a  placer  miner  may  subsequently  lay  a  valid 
mining  claim  to  the  same  land  ;  but  he  may  not  be  able  to 
work  it  until  the  flume  is  abandoned. 

Another  kind  of  a  claim  which  does  not  give  title  to  the 
minerals  in  the  land,  is  a  claim  for  a  place  on  which  to  deposit 
tailings.  Every  miner  owns  the  tailings  which  run  from  his 
mill  or  sluice,  and  he  has  a  right  to  hold,  as  a  tailing  claim,  as 
much  land  as  may  be  necessary  to  contain  his  tailings ;  but 
another  miner  may  make  a  subsequent  and  valid  claim  to  the 
same  land  for  mining  purposes ;  but  before  being  able  to  work 
the  claim,  he  may  have  to  wait  until  the  owner  of  the  tailings 
has  washed  them,  for  which  a  reasonable  time,  (it  may  be  for 
years)  in  accordance  with  the  customs  of  the  district,  will  be 
allowed  him.  If  a  miner  wishes  to  have  a  good  title  to  a  tail- 
ing claim,  he  must  show  that  he  intends  to  preserve  them,  and 
he  ought  to  confine  them  within  an  inclosure  and  post  up 
notices  of  his  claim.  (Jones  vs.  Jackson,  9  CaL,  237  ;  O'Keefe 
vs.  Cunningham,  9  CaL,  589.) 

When  a  miner  allows  his  tailings  to  rnn  upon  the  claim  of 
another,  the  latter  becomes  their  owner.  (Jones  vs.  Jackson,  9 
CaL,  237.) 

Custom  among  the  miners  has  given  to  every  claim-holder 
the  right  to  run  off  his  tailings  through  the  claim  or  claims 
below  his  ;  provided  that  he  do  no  actual  damage.  If  any 
direct  damage  be  done,  he  must  pay  for  it.  This  principle  is 
not  stated  in  any  statute,  decision  or  mining  code  ;  but  it  is 
custom.  When  land  is  held  by  fee  simple  title,  the  owner  has 
the  right  to  prohibit  every  man  from  coming  on  his  land,  or 
making  any  kind  of  use  of  it. 


THE   LAWS   OF    MINING   IN   CALIFORNIA.  187 

Conveyance  of  Mining  Claims.  \  167.  It  is  pru- 
dent in  purchasing  a  mining  claim  to  take  a  deed,  and  have  it 
sealed,  acknowledged  and  recorded,  like  an  ordinary  conveyance 
of  real  estate  in  fee  simple.  The  Supreme  Court  appears  to 
.  have  held  different  doctrines,  at  different  times,  on  this  point. 
In  January,  1857,  the  Court  said  :  "  Bills  of  sale  not  under  seal," 
are  insufficient  to  convey  a  perfect  title  to  a  mining  claim. 
(McCarron  vs.  O'Connell  et  aL,  7  CaL,  152.)  In  July,  1859, 
the  Court  said  :  "  We  are  unable  to  see  why,  upon  questions  as 
to  the  occupancy  of  the  public  mineral  land,  a  transfer  of  the 
right  of  the  occupant  to  the  possession — which  is  about  all  his 
claim  to  it — is  not  as  good  for  all  purposes,  to  the  vendee 
taking  possession,  when  evidenced  by  an  agreement,  as  by  a 
deed."  (Jackson  vs.  Feather  River  Water  Co.,  14  CaL,  23.) 

The  title  to  a  mining  claim  may  be  seized  and  sold  under 
execution.  (McKeon  vs.  Bisbee,  9  CaL,  137.) 

Water  Subject  to  Claim.  \  168.  The  water,  like  the 
land,  may  be  claimed  for  mining  purposes  ;  and  general  usage 
does  not  restrict  a  man  to  such  small  quantities,  comparatively, 
as  of  the  latter.  Any  one  man,  for  instance,  has  by  general 
usage  the  right  to  take  possession  of  a  whole  stream  and  lead 
its  waters  to  the  mining  ground,  and  charge  his  own  price  for 
it.  He  thus  becomes  the  owner  of  the  ground  covered  by  his 
reservoirs,  dams,  ditches  and  flumes,  and  may  maintain  actions 
for  trespasses  upon  them  in  the  same  manner  as  if  he  owned 
the  land  in  fee  simple.  Ordinarily,  however,  these  ditching 
enterprises  are  so  expensive,  that  they  can  only  be  carried 
through  by  large  companies.  But  there  is  no  limit  to  the 
length  of  ditch  or  the  extent  of  reservoir,  or  the  Amount  of 
water  which  they  may  hold,  legally.  The  miners'  laws  never 
place  any  limits  on  these  points  ;  indeed,  the  more  extensive 
these  works  are  made,  the  better  it  is  for  the  districts  which 
they  supply. 

The  Supreme  Court  has  said  :  "  The  ownership  of  water  as 
a  substantive  and  valuable  property,  distinct,  sometimes,  from 
the  land  through  which  it  flows,  has  been  recognized  by  our 
courts  ;  and  this  ownership,  of  course,  draws  to  it  all  the  legal 
remedies  for  its  invasion.  The  right  accrues  from  appropria- 
tion ;  this  appropriation  is  the  intent  to  take,  accompanied  by 
.some  open,  physical  demonstration  of  the  intent,  and  for  some 
.  valuable  use.  We  have  held  that  there  is  no  difference  in  re- 


188  HAND-BOOK  OF   MINING. 

spect  to  this  use,  or  rather  purpose,  to  which  the  water  is  to 
be  applied  ;  at  least,  that  an  appropriation  for  the  uses  of  a 
mill  stands  on  the  same  footing  as  an  appropriation  for  the  use 
of  the  mines.  Each  of  these  purposes,  indeed,  may  be  equally 
useful,  or  even  necessary  to  the  miners  themselves.  But  the 
nature  of  the  use  may  be  important,  as  denoting  the  extent  of 
the  water  appropriated.  Water  taken  for  a  mill  is  not  an 
article  of  merchandise,  to  be  sold  in  the  market ;  it  is  merely  a 
motive  power,  and  after  it  passes  the  mill  and  subserves  its 
purposes,  may  be  used  as  an  aid  to  the  working  of  the  mines. 
But  this  last  use  must  not  be  inconsistent  with  the  prior  right 
acquired  by  the  mill-owner,  so  far  as  his  necessary  use  is  con- 
cerned. This  right  of  water  may  be  transferred  like  other 
property."  (McDonald  and  Blackburn  vs.  The  Sear  River 
and  Auburn  Water  and  Mining  Company,  13  CaL,  220.) 

Water  is  claimed,  in  the  mineral  districts,  by  ditching  com- 
panies, which  intend  to  sell  the  water  to  miners ;  by  miners 
intending  to  use  the  water  in  working  their  own  placer  claims  ; 
by  quartz  miners,  to  drive  their  quartz  mills  ;  by  owners  of 
saw  mills  and  grist  mills,  to  drive  their  mills  ;  and  by  farmers, 
for  purposes  of  irrigation. 

Every  claimant  has  a  right  to  all  the  water  which  he  has 
converted  to  his  use,  and  no  other  person  has  a  right  to  take 
the  water  away  from  him.  The  first  claimant  has  the  right  to 
lead  the  water  whither  he  pleases.  Nobody  coming  subse- 
quently has  a  right  to  demand  that  it  shall  be  led  back  into 
its  natural  bed.  No  subsequent  claimant  has  a  right  to  go 
higher  up  the  stream  and  take  away  a  portion  of  the  water. 
(Irwin  vs.  Phillips,  5  Cal.,  140.) 

After  the  water  of  a  river  or  brook  has  been  appropriated, 
a  subsequent  claimant  may  lead  the  water  out  of  its  bed  above 
and  use  it  for  mining  purposes,  if  he  turns  it  all  back  again. 
(Bear  River  Water  and  Mining  Company  vs.  York  Mining 
Company,  8  Cal,  327.) 

When  water  from  an  artificial  ditch  is  turned  into  a  natural 
water  course,  and  mingled  with  natural  waters  of  the  stream, 
for  the  purpose  of  conducting  it  to  another  point,  to  be  there 
used,  it  is  not  thereby  abandoned  ;  but  may  be  taken  out  and 
used  by  the  party  thus  conducting  it,  so  that  he  do  not,  in  so 
doing,  diminish  the  quantity  of  the  natural  waters  of  the 
stream,  to  the  injury  of  those  who  have  previously  appropriated  • 
such  natural  waters.  (Butte  Canal  and  Ditch  Compaay  vs. 
Waters,  11  Cat.,  143.) 


THE   LAWS   OP   MINING   IN    CALIFORNIA.  189 

If  a  ditch  be  cut  for  drainage  merely,  another  claimant  may 
come,  and  by  a  public  claim,  make  himself  owner  of  the  water, 
for  the  purpose  of  mining.  (Maeris  vs.  Bicknell,  7  CaL,  261.) 

Older  Claim  has  Preference.  \  169.  The  holder 
of  a  claim  has  a  right  to  work  it  without  any  hindrance  from 
later  claimants.  Subsequent  locators  have  no  right  to  dam  up 
the  water  so  as  to  turn  it  back  on  a  prior  claim,  nor  to  erect 
such  obstructions  as  to  deprive  the  older  claimant  of  the  fall 
which  may  be  necessary  to  enable  him  to  wash  his  dirt  con- 
veniently, and  which  he  had  when  he  first  took  up  his  claim. 
(Sims  vs.  Smith,  7  CaL,  148.) 

Work  done  in  getting  machinery  for  a  claim,  or  making  a 
drain  to  free  it  of  water,  is  considered  as  work  done  on  the 
claim  itself.  (Packer  et  al.  vs.  Heaton,  9  CaL,  568.) 

Abandonment  of  Water.  \  170.  If  a  miner,  who 
has  appropriated  the  waters  of  a  brook,  abandons  its  waters 
arid  allows  them  to  flow  into  another  brook,  which  has  been 
claimed  by  others,  these  become  entitled  to  all  the  water. 
(Butte  Canal  and  Ditch  Company  vs.  Vaughan,  11  CaL,  143.) 

Claims  entitled  to  Water.  §  171.  If  a  miner  has 
taken  a  claim  on  the  bar  of  a  river,  or  in  the  bed  of  a  brook — • 
that  is,  a  claim  of  such  a  character  that  the  water  of  the  river 
or  brook  must  be  used  to  work  it — then  no  person,  coming 
after  him,  has  the  right  to  lead  the  water  away,  so  as  to  de- 
prive him  of  its  use. 

Claim  of  a  Route  for  a  Ditch.  §  172.  The  survey 
of  the  line  of  a  ditch,  the  planting  of  stakes  along  the  line, 
giving  public  notice  of  intent  to  make  a  ditch,  and  the  com- 
mencement and  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  work,  are  sufficient 
to  give  possession  of  the  ground  to  a  ditch  company,  and  to 
make  them  its  owners,  as  against  everybodybut  the  United 
States.  (Conger  vs.  Weaver,  6  CaL,  548.) 

Miners'  Regulations.  £  173.  The  local  mining  regu- 
lations are  recognized  by  our  statutes  as  valid.  The  act  to 
regulate  proceedings  in  civil  cases  says  that  "  in  actions  re- 
specting mining  claims,  proof  shall  be  admitted  of  the  customs, 
usages  or  regulations  established  and  in  force  at  the  bar  or 


190  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

diggings  embracing  such  claim ;  and  such  customs,  usages  or 
regulations,  when  not  in  conflict  with  the  Constitution  and  laws 
of  the  State,  shall  govern  the  decision  of  the  action." 

The  "  customs,  usages  or  regulations  "  here  mentioned,  are 
found  written  out  and  formally  adopted  by  the  miners  of  every 
mining  district  in  the  State.  The  size  of  the  district  is  very 
irregular,  and  is  determined  by  the  miners  themselves.  A  dis- 
trict may  be  a  mile  square,  six  miles  square,  or  it  may  have 
any  irregular  shape ;  and  the  shape  is  usually  very  irregular, 
including  a  certain  class  of  diggings.  The  miners  of  this  dis- 
trict call  a  public  meeting  and  pass  a  code  of  regulations,  de- 
scribing therein  the  size  of  the  claims  ;  how  many  claims  a  man 
may  hold ;  how  the  claims  shall  be  recorded  ;  what  the  recorder 
shall  receive  for  each  entry ;  how  claims  may  be  transferred  ; 
what  the  recorder  shall  receive  for  noting  each  transfer  in  his 
books  ;  how  claims  may  be  forfeited  ;  how  much  work  must  be 
done  on  a  claim  to  maintain  the  title  perfect ;  who  shall  be 
recorder  ;  how  disputes  about  mining  claims  shall  be  settled, 
and  so  on.  Nearly  every  district  has  its  recorder,  who  keeps 
a  record  of  all  the  claims,  and  keeps  a  copy  of  the  laws  of  the 
district  open  to  inspection. 

The  laws  in  different  districts  vary  in  diggings  of  the  same 
class  ;  but  the  variance  is  still  greater  when  a  comparison  of 
the  laws  of  a  quartz  district  is  made  with  the  laws  of  a  tun- 
neling district ;  or  those  of  either  with  the  code  of  a  shallow 
ravine  district,  or  the  district  of  a  flumed  river. 

The  mining  regulations  of  the  silver  districts  bear  much  re- 
semblance to  those  of  the  quartz  districts. 

There  are  certain  general  principles  recognized  in  most  of 
the  mining  codes.  Among  these  are  the  following  : 

The  discoverer  of  a  district,  or  of  a  new  class  of  diggings  in 
it,  is  entitled  to  hold  twice  as  much  as  ordinary  miners.  The 
principle  might  be  said  to  be  established  as  the  general  usage 
of  the  State. 

Neglect  to  work  a  claim  at  a  season  when  it  is  workable,  is 
considered  an  abandonment  and  forfeiture  of  it,  so  that  it  may 
be  seized  by  the  first  comer.  In  some  districts,  a  claim  must 
not  be  left  more  than  three  days  ;  in  others,  not  more  than  a 
week. 

-Stakes  must  be  driven  at  every  corner  of  a  claim,  and  a 
paper  giving  a  description  of  the  boundaries  of  the  claim,  and 
the  names  of  the  owners,  must  be  posted  up  on  the  claim. 


THE   LAWS   OF   MINING    IN    CALIFORNIA.  191 

In  placer  diggings,  where  the  claims  can  only  be  worked 
during  part  of  the  year,  when  the  water  is  either  high  or  low, 
claims  are  not  forfeited  for  want  of  work  during  the  un propi- 
tious season.  A  river  claim  may  be  left  untouched  during  the 
winter,  and  a  dry  ravine  claim  during  the  summer,  without 
danger  to  the  title.  It  is  not  uncommon  for  the  laws  to  pro- 
vide that  a  man  may  hold  one  of  each  class. 

Neglect  to  work  on  account  of  sickness  of  the  owner  causes 
no  forfeiture. 

In  cases  where  expensive  tunnels  are  cut  or  shafts  dug,  in 
ground  where  much  doubt  is  entertained  about  the  finding  of 

a  ing  diggings,  the  prospectors  are  sometimes  authorized  to 
1  two  claims  each. 

A  great  diversity  of  custom  prevails  about  the  number  of 
claims  which  a  man  may  hold.  One  may  be  held  by  lo- 
cation ;  and  in  some  places,  any  number  by  purchase. 

Companies  are  entitled  to  hold  as  much  as  the  individual 
members  could  hold  if  they  were  separate. 

Work  done  on  any  part  of  a  company's  claim,  secures  the 
title  to  the  whole  of  it. 

The  amount  of  work  necessary  to  be  done  on  claims  to  se- 
cure the  title  differs  greatly  ;  it  may  be  a  day's  work  per  week, 
or  two  days'  per  week,  in  the  working  season. 

In  some  districts  it  is  necessary  to  dig  a  trench  along  the 
boundary  of  every  claim,  and  to  put  up  on  it  a  tin  sign  marked 
with  the  number  which  the  claim  has  in  the  recorder's  book. 

I  give,  in  the  latter  part  of  this  chapter,  copies  of  the  miners' 
codes  in  several  of  the  districts  of  California  and  Nevada. 
Among  these  codes  is  that  of  the  Genoa  District,  in  Nevada. 
In  this  code  are  singular  clauses,  not  found  in.  any  other 
mining  regulations  on  the  coast.  The  first  peculiar  and  im- 
portant feature  of  this  code  is  that  by  the  expenditure  of 
$1,000  in  working  a  claim,  the  claimant  gets  a  title  beyond  all 
forfeiture.  Having  spent  that  amount,  he  is  secure  forever  in 
his  possessions,  against  all  other  miners  ;  but,  of  course,  the 
code  cannot  give  title  as  against  the  Federal  Government, 
which  is  the  fee  simple  owner  of  the  land  and  minerals.  In 
every  other  code  of  mining  regulations  known  to  me,  the  title 
of  mining  claims  is  forfeited  whenever  the  claim  is  abandoned  ; 
and  neglect  to  work  for  a  few  days  in  the  season  when  the 
claim  can  be  worked,  is  considered  abandonment.  If  it  be 
politic  to  give  a  title  that  cannot  be  forfeited  by  neglect  to 


192  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

work,  it  would  be  well  to  specify  how  the  fact  that  $1,000 
has  been  spent  on  a  claim  is  to*  be  ascertained,,  and  how 
the  title  to  a  claim  may  be  given  up.  The  expenditure  of  $500 
secures  the  claims  against  forfeiture  for  a  year. 

This  code  further  entitles  any  man  to  hold  three  hundred 
feet  on  any  vein  in  the  district ;  and  to  hold  two  hundred  feet 
of  land  on  each  side  of  his  vein,  so  that  he  has  an  abundance 
of  room  for  working.  If,  however,  the  lead  run  lengthwise 
with  a  hill,  and  the  claimant  cuts  a  tunnel  into  the  hill,  he 
owns  all  the  ground  through  which  his  tunnel  goes,  no  matter 
how  wide  the  hill  may  be.  Thus,  if  the  hill  be  one  thousand 
feet  wide,  and  a  tunnel  be  run  entirely  through  it,  at  a  cost  of 
$1,000,  he  gets  a  perfect  title  to  a  claim  three  hundred  by  one 
thousand  feet  in  size. 

This  code  further  provides  that  it  shall  not  be  altered  except 
by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  all  persons  owning  claims  in  the  dis- 
trict, and  after  twenty  days'  notice  published  in  several  news- 
papers. These  are  formalities  not  ordinarily  required  in  such 
cases :  but  their  object — to  secure  the  titles  of  claims — is  very 
plain. 

Regulations  of  Columbia  District.  §  174.  The 
following  code  of  mining  regulations,  adopted  by  the  miners  in 
the  Columbia  district,  Tuolumne  county,  and  revised  by  them 
in  October,  1860,  is  considered  one  of  the  best  and  most  com- 
plete in  the  State  : 

"  ARTICLE  1.  The  Columbia  Mining  District  shall  hereafter 
be  considered  to  contain  all  the  territory  embraced  within  the 
following  bounds  :  Beginning  at  the  site  of  M 'Kenny's  old 
store,  on  Springfield  Flat,  and  running  in  a  direct  line  to  a 
spring  on  a  gulch  known  as  Spring  Gulch — said  gulch  run- 
ning in  a  southern  direction  from  Santiago  Hill.  Thence,  in  a 
direct  line  from  said  spring,  to  the  angle  of  the  road  leading 
from  Saw  Mill  Flat  to  Kelly's  Ranch,  near  Wood's  Creek. 
Thence,  running  along  the  ridge  on  the  west  of  Wood's  Creek, 
to  the  southern  bounds  of  Yankee  Hill  District.  Thence,  fol- 
lowing the  ridge,  to  the  high  flume  between  Columbia  and 
Yankee  Hill.  Thence,  following  the  New  Water  Company's 
ditch  to  Summit  Pass.  Thence,  in  a  direct  line  to  the  head 
of  Experimental  Gulch — including  said  gulch.  Thence,  fol- 
lowing the  upland  to  a  point  opposite  Pine  Log  Crossing. 
Thence,  following  the  upland  to  the  head  of  Fox  Gulch,  and 


THE   LAWS  OP   MINING   IN   CALIFORNIA.  193 

including  said  gulch.  Thence  following  the  upland  around  the 
head  of  Dead  Man's  Gulch,  to  the  site  of  the  Lawnsdale  Saw 
Mill.  Thence,  in  a  direct  line  to  the  place  of  beginning. 

"  ART.  2.  A  full  claim  for  mining  purposes,  on  the  flats  or 
hills  in  this  district,  shall  consist  of  an  area  equal  to  that  of 
one  hundred  feet  square.  A  full  claim  on  ravines  shall  consist 
of  one  hundred  feet  running  on  the  ravine,  and  of  a  width  at 
the  discretion  of  the  claimant ;  provided  it  does  not  exceed 
one  hundred  feet. 

"  ART.  3.  No  person  or  persons  shall  be  allowed  to  hold 
more  than  one  full  claim,  within  the  bounds  of  this  district,  by 
location  ;  nor  shall  it  consist  of  more  than  two  parcels  of 
ground,  the  sum  of  the  area  of  which  shall  not  exceed  one  full 
claim  ;  provided  nothing  in  this  article  shall  be  so  construed 
as  to  prevent  miners  from  associating  in  companies  to  carry 
on  mining  operations — such  companies  holding  no  more  than 
one  claim  to  each  member. 

"  ART.  4.  A  claim  may  be  held  for  five  days  after  water  can 
be  procured  at  the  usual  rates,  by  distinctly  marking  its 
bounds  by  ditches,  or  by  the  erection  of  good  and  sufficient 
stakes  at  each  corner,  with  a  notice  at  each  end  of  the  claim, 
followed  by  the  names  of  the  claimants,  and  by  recording  the 
same  according  to  the  provisions  of  Article  10th. 

"  ART.  5.  When  a  party  has  already  commenced  operations 
upon  a  claim,  and  is  obliged  to  discontinue  for  want  of  water, 
or  by  sickness  or  unavoidable  accident,  the  presence  upon  the 
ground  of  the  torn  and  sluices,  or  such  machines  as  are  em- 
ployed in  working  the  claim,  shall  be  considered  as  sufficient 
evidence  that  the  ground  is  not  abandoned,  and  shall  serve 
instead  of  other  notice  ;  the  bounds  of  the  claim  still  being  de- 
fined, except  so  far  as  the  marks  may  have  been  obliterated  by 
the  work  which  has  been  done,  or  by  other  causes. 

"  ART.  6.  Claims  shall  be  forfeited  when  parties  holding 
them  have  neglected  to  fulfill  the  requirements  of  the  pre- 
ceding articles  ;  or  have  neglected  working  them  for  five  days 
after  water  can  be  procured  at  the  usual  rates,  unless  prevented 
by  sickness  or  unavoidable  accident,  or  unless  the  miners  have 
provided  by  law  to  the  contrary. 

"  ART.  7.  Earth  thrown  up  tor  the  purpose  of  washing  shall 
not  be  held  distinct  from  the  claim  from  which  it  was  taken  ; 
but  shall  constitute  part  and  parcel  of  such  claim. 

"  ART.  8.     Water  flo  ,ving  naturally  through  gold-bearing 


194  HAND-BOOK   OF  MINING. 

ravines,  shall  not  be  diverted  from  its  natural  course  without 
the  consent  of  parties  working  on  such  ravines  ;  and  when  so 
diverted,  it  shall  be  held  subject  to  a  requisition  of  the  party 
interested. 

"ART.  9.  No  Asiatics  shall  be  allowed  to  mine  in  this 
district. 

"  ART.  10.  Any  or  all  claims  now  located,  or  that  may  be 
located  and  worked,  can  be  laid  over  at  any  time,  for  any 
length  of  time  not  to  exceed  six  months,  by  the  person  or  per- 
sons holding  the  same  appearing  before  the  recorder  of  the 
district,  with  two  or  more  disinterested  miners,  who  shall  cer- 
tify over  their  own  signatures  that  the  said  claim  or  claims 
cannot  be  worked  to  advantage,  and  by  having  the  same  re- 
corded according  to  the  laws  of  the  district,  and  by  paying  a 
fee  of  one  dollar  ;  provided,  each  claimant  shall  sign  the  record 
in  person  or  by  a  legal  representative,  stating  at  the  same  time 
that  said  claim  is  held  by  location  or  by  purchase. 

"ART.  11.  There  shall  be  a  recorder  elected,  who  shall  hold 
the  office  for  one  year  from  the  date  of  his  election,  or  until  his 
successor  be  elected ;  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  keep  a  record 
of  all  miners'  meetings  held  in  the  district ;  to  record  all  claims, 
when  requested  by  the  claimants,  in  a  book  to  be  kept  for  that 
purpose,  according  to  Article  10th  ;  and  to  call  miners'  meet- 
ings, by  posting  notices  throughout  the  district,  when  fifteen 
or  more  miners  of  the  district  shall  present  him  with  a  petition 
stating  the  object  of  the  meeting,  and  paying  for  printing 
notices  ;  provided,  that  in  the  absence  of  the  recorder,  the 
above  named  number  of  miners  shall  not  be  disqualified  to  call 
a  meeting,  at  the  place  specified  in  Article  13th.  He  shall 
at  all  proper  times  keep  his  record  book  open  for  inspection. 

"  ART.  12.  No  company  or  companies  of  miners,  who  may 
occupy  the  natural  channel  through  any  gulch  or  ravine  for  a 
tail-race  or  flume,  shall  have  the  exclusive  right  of  such  channel, 
to  the  exclusion  of  any  company  of  miners  who  may  wish  to 
run  their  tailings  into  the  same. 

"  ART.  13.  Any  party  or  parties  locating  claims  in  gulches 
or  ravines  where  such  flumes  or  tail-races  exist,  shall  first  con- 
fer with  the  party  or  parties  owning  said  tail-races  or  flumes, 
for  the  use  of  the  same  on  such  conditions  as  they  may  agree 
upon  ;  and  in  case  of  a  disagreement,  each  party  shall  choose 
two  disinterested  miners,  and  the  four  shall  choose  a  fifth,  who 
may  determine  the  matter  or  matters  in  dispute. 


THE   LAWS   OF    MINING   IN   CALIFORNIA.  195 

"  ART.  14.  Any  company  or  companies  of  miners  shall  have 
the  right  to  run  their  water  and  tailings  across  the  claim  or 
claims  below  them,  if  it  can  be  done  without  injury  to  the  lower 
claims. 

"  ART.  15.  The  limits  of  this  district  shall  not  be  changed 
without  the  consent  of  a  regularly  called  mass  meeting  of  the 
miners  of  the  district. 

"  ART.  16.  No  miners'  meetings  held  outside  of  Columbia, 
for  the  purpose  of  making  laws  to  govern  any  portion  of  the 
district,  or  to  amend  these  laws  in  any  manner,  shall  be  con- 
sidered as  legal. 

"  ART.  18.  All  mining  laws  of  this  district,  made  previous 
to  the  foregoing,  are  hereby  repealed." 

Regulations  of  Pilot  Hill.  \  175.  The  mining 
code  of  Pilot  Hill,  Calaveras  county,  is  as  follows  : 

"  SECTION  1.  Each  tunneling  and  shafting  claim  shall  con- 
sist of  one  hundred  feet  in  width  to  the  man,  and  running 
through  the  hill  on  a  parallel  line  with  the  commencement  of 
the  tunnel. 

"  SEC.  2.  That  each  company  holding  tunnel  or  shafting 
claims,  in  order  to  hold  the  same,  shall  be  required  to  perform 
work  to  the  amount  of  twenty-five  dollars  each  week  for  a 
period  not  to  exceed  twelve  months. 

"  SEC.  3.  That  each  gulch  claim  shall  consist  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  in  length,  by  fifty  in  width,  to  each  man. 

"  SEC.  4.  That  each  surface  claim  shall  consist  of  two 
hundred  feet  in  length,  by  one  hundred  feet  in  width,  to  the 
man. 

"  SEC.  5.  That  each  gulch  and  surface  claim  shall  be  worked 
within  three  days  after  the  date  of  location,  if  water  can  be 
obtained. 

"  SEC.  6.  That  each  tunneling,  shafting,  gulch  and  surface 
claim  shall  be  marked  off  by  stakes,  or  other  marks,  so  that 
the  boundaries  of  each  claim  can  be  distinctly  traced." 

Regulations  of  Mush  Plat.  \  176.  The  code  of 
Mush  Flat,  (Placer  county)  is  very  long.  The  following 
abstract  gives  all  its  points  : 

Article  first  gives  the  boundaries  of  the  district.  Article 
second  provides  for  the  election  of  a  recorder  to  record 
claims.  Article  3d.  If  recorder  wishes  to  vacate  his  office, 


196  HAND-BOOK   OP  MINING. 

must  give  miners  of  the  district  a  week's  notice  of  a  meeting 
for  new  election.  Arts.  4th  and  5th.  Hill,  ravine,  flat  and 
side-hill  claims,  to  be  two  hundred  by  three  hundred  feet  in 
size.  Evidence  of  location — stakes  and  notice.  Art.  6th.  A 
"  preempted  claim,"  to  mean  one  in  immediate  vicinity  of 
paying  diggings.  And  not  lawful  for  any  one  to  hold  more 
than  one  each  of  hill,  flat,  or  ravine  claims  by  preemption. 
Art.  7th.  Any  one  empowered  to  hold  as  many  claims  by  pur- 
chase as  desired.  Art.  8th.  A  "  prospect  claim,"  to  mean 
one  disconnected  from  previously  discovered  paying  diggings, 
and  located  for  prospecting  purposes.  Art.  9th.  One  month's 
labor,  or  its  value,  expended  in  prospecting  a  claim  shall  ad- 
mit of  three  additional  months  suspensions  of  labor  without 
forfeiture  of  claim.  Art.  10th.  The  recorder,  and  a  person 
appointed  by  a  prospector,  shall  be  a  committee  to  decide 
upon  the  amount  and  value  of  labor  performed,  as  required  by 
preceding  article,  and  the  claim  and  its  boundaries  duly 
recorded,  along  with  affidavit  of  committee.  The  duplicate  of 
this  furnished  prospector,  and  posted  upon  the  claim.  Art. 
llth.  At  expiration  of  three  months,  prospector  to  perform 
three  months  of  labor,  which  shall  entitle  him  to  a  suspension 
of  work  upon  claim  for  six  months,  by  proceeding  as  required 
by  Article  10th.  Art.  12th.  When  unremunerative  labor  to 
the  amount  of  $1,000  has  been  expended  upon  claim,  pros- 
pector may  discontinue  operations  one  year,  by  following  pro- 
visions of  Article  lOth.J  Art.  13th.  One  person  may  have 
several  "  prospect  claims,  if  in  different  locations  ;  but  his 
individual  labor  to  be  employed  only  upon  one.  Art.  14th. 
A  "  prospect  claim  "  not  to  be  laid  by,  and  another  to  be  taken, 
without  a  final  abandonment  of  the  first.  Art,  15th.  "  Pros- 
pect claims  "  to  be  worked  within  twelve  days  of  location,  and 
every  twelfth  consecutive  day  thereafter,  until  the  amount  of 
labor  required  by  Articles  9th,  llth  and  13th  are  performed, 
without  sickness  or  inclement  weather  prevents.  Art.  16th. 
Preempted  and  purchased  claims,  if  not  paying  ones,  entitled  to 
same  privileges  as  "  prospect  claims."  Committee  of  inspec- 
tors, to  decide  if  they  be  entitled  to  the  privileges.  Art.  17th. 
Paying  claims  to  be  exempt  from  forfeiture,  must  be  repre- 
sented every  twelfth  consecutive  day,  if  a  sluice  head  of  water 
is  obtainable.  Art.  18th.  Holder  of  paying  claim  may  delay 
work  to  the  second  twelfth  consecutive  day,  by  satisfying  a 
board  of  referees  of  the  necessity  for  so  doing.  Said  board 


THE   LAWS   OF    MINING   IN   CALIFORNIA.  197 

to  have  the  reasons  entered  upon  record  of  recorder.  Art. 
1 9th.  Board  of  referees,  if  unable  to  agree,  in  cases  as  above, 
shall  select  a  third  person,  whose  decision  shall  be  final.  None 
of  the  board  shall  be  interested  in  the  claim.  Art.  20tb. 
Upon  transfer  of  any  claim,  the  transfer  must  be  made  upon 
the  recorder's  books  within  forty-eight  hours,  to  avoid  for- 
feiture. Art.  21s£  No  claim  shall  be  forfeited  when  the  dis- 
trict is  not  supplied  with  water  for  mining,  except  those 
accepting  the  privileges  of  "  prospect  claims."  Art.  22d. 
Eecorder  to  keep  book  with  these  laws  recorded  ;  to  be  open 
to  the  inspection  of  any  one.  Art.  23d.  Fees  of  recorder, 
when  acting  on  committee  of  inspectors,  fifty  cents ;  for  re- 
cording mining  claim,  fifty  cents ;  recording  certificate  of 
committee,  fifty  cents  ;  for  duplicate  of  same,  fifty  cents ;  ser- 
vice on  board  of  referees,  twenty-five  cents  ;  recording  certi- 
fied excuse  of  applicant,  fifty  cents  ;  recording  transfer  and 
location  of  any  claim,  fifty  cents.  Art.  24th.  When  meetings 
of  miners  required,  public  notice  of  a  week  to  be  given,  and 
stating  object  of  meeting.  Art.  25th.  Meetings  to  be  organ- 
ized by  the  election  of  president  and  secretary,  and  the  pro- 
ceedings to  be  placed  upon  the  records  by  recorder.  None 
but  the  holders  of  claims  in  the  district  to  vote  at  the  meet- 
ings. Art.  26th.  The  foregoing  laws  may  be  amended  by  a 
meeting,  properly  called,  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  a  quorum 
present.  A  quorum  to  consist  of  twelve  persons,  and  to  be 
legal  voters  of  the  district. 

Regulations  of  New  Kanaka  Camp.  J  177.  The 

following  are  the  mining  regulations  of  "  New  Kanaka  Camp  " 
district,  in  Tuolumne  county,  exclusive  of  the  clause  describing 
the  bounds  of  the  district,  and  some  others  in  regard  to  duties 
and  fees  of  the  recorder  :  • 

*'  ART.  2.  Creek  claims  shall  be  two  hundred  feet  in  length, 
and  from  bank  to  bank. 

"  ART.  3.  Gulch  or  ravine  claims  shall  be  two  hundred  feet 
in  length  and  fifty  feet  in  width. 

"  ART.  4.  All  claims  on  bars  or  flats  shall  be  two  hundred 
feet  in  length  and  fifty  feet  in  width. 

"  ART.  5.  It  shall  be  required  that  all  claims  be  worked  one 
full  day  in  three,  when  permanent  water  can  be  had,  except  in 
cases  of  sickness  or  legal  cause. 

"  ART.  6.  All  miners  are  entitled  to  one  claim  by  preemp- 


198  HAND-BOOK    OF   MINING. 

tion  and  one  by  purchase ;  provided,  such  claims  purchased 
shall  be,  on  investigation,  found  to  have  been  obtained  in  a 
legal  or  bonajide  manner. 

"  ART.  7.  Chinamen  shall  not  be  allowed  to  own'  claims  in 
this  district,  either  by  purchase  or  preemption. 

"  ART.  8.  All  persons  who  find  it  necessajy*  to  cut  a  tail-race 
to  their  claims,  shall  have  the  privilege  of  cutting  through  any 
ground  below  them,  owned  by  other  parties,  provided  it  will 
not  result  to  the  injury  of  such  parties. 

"  ART.  9.  It  shall  be  required  of  all  persons  owning  claims 
in  this  district,  to  designate  the  boundaries  of  said  claims  by 
digging  a  trench  around  the  same. 

"ART.  10.  All  disputes  arising  in  regard  to  mining  shall  be 
left  to  arbitration,  each  party  to  choose  one  man,  and  in  case 
of  disagreement,  they  to  choose  an  umpire. 

"  ART.  11.  Arbitrators  in  all  cases,  for  services,  shall  be  paid 
for  all  time  consumed,  at  the  rate  of  three  dollars  per  day. 

"  ART.  12.  All  claims  may  be  laid  over,  by  having  the  same 
recorded,  from  the  time  ditch  water  fails  until  it  can  be  ob- 
tained again. 

"  ART.  13.  A  recorder  shall  be  chosen,  whose  duty  shall  be 
to  keep  a  book  of  records,  with  the  number  of  each  claim  re- 
corded, from  one  to  an  unlimited  number.  It  shall  also  be  the 
duty  of  said  recorder  to  go  on  to  each  and  every  claim 
recorded,  and  post  at  either  end  of  such  claim  a  piece  of  tin, 
with  the  number  stamped  thereon,  corresponding  with  the  num- 
ber on  the  book  of  record." 

Quartz  Regulations  of  Tuolumne  County.  §  178. 
The  quartz  miners  of  Tuolumne  county  adopted  the  following 
code  of  regulations  in  1858,  and  they  are  still  in  force : 

"  ART.  1.  The  jurisdiction  of  the  following  laws  shall  extend 
over  and  govern  all  quartz  mining  property  within  Tuolumne 
county. 

"  ART.  2.  Each  proprietor  or  locator  of  a  quartz  claim  shall 
be  entitled  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  (150)  in  length  of  the 
vein,  including  all  its  dips  and  angles ;  also  one  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  (150)  on  each  side  of  said  vein,  together  with  the 
right  of  way  on  either  side  of  said  vein,  to  run  tunnels  and 
drifts  any  distance  that  may  be  necessary  in  order  to  work  said 
vein.  Provided,  That  the  right  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  (150) 
feet  herein  granted  on  each  side  of  the  vein,  shall  not  be 


THE   LAWS   OP   MINING   IN    CALIFORNIA.  199 

deemed  to  conflict  with  or  detract  from  the  right  of  any  sub- 
sequent locator,  who  may  discover  a  vein  outside  of  said  one 
hundred  and  fifty  (150)  feet,  from  following  his  vein  through 
said  ground. 

"  ART.  3.  The  original  discoverer  of  a  vein  shall  be  entitled 
to  hold  three  hundred  (300)  feet  in  length  on  said  vein,  by  vir- 
tue of  discovery. 

"  ART.  4.  No  man  shall,  by  virtue  of  preemption,  be  enti- 
tled to  hold  more  than  one  claim  on  the  same  vein,  except  as 
provided  in  Art.  3d. 

"  ART.  5.  All  quartz  claims  hereafter  taken  up  or  located, 
shall  be  plainly  marked  by  notices  posted,  containing  the  claim- 
ants' names  and  the  number  of  feet  claimed. 

"  ART.  6.  The  parties  locating  a  quartz  claim  shall  put  at 
least  one  full  day's  work  on  said  vein  in  every  thirty  days,  in 
order  to  hold  the  same.  A  day's  work  shall  be  eight  hours' 
labor.  Provided,  however,  that  the  sum  of  one  hundred  ($100) 
dollars  expended  on  said  claim,  shall  hold  the  same  for  six 
months  from  the  date  of  its  expenditure. 

"  ART.  7.  Any  individual,  company  or  companies,  erecting 
machinery  for  working  quartz  shall,  by  virtue  of  said  machin- 
ery, hold  the  vein  or  veins  belonging  to  said  individual,  com-" 
pany  or  companies. 

"  ART.  8.  These  laws  shall  be  in  full  force  and  effect  from 
and  after  the  first  day  of  September,  A.  D.  1858." 

Silver  Regulations  of  the  Virginia  District. 

\  179.  The  following  are  the  laws  of  the  Virginia  Mining  Dis- 
trict, Carson  county,  Nevada  territory  : 

"  At  a  meeting  of  the  miners  of  Virginia  district,  held  at 
Virginia  City,  Sept.  14th,  1859,  the  following  laws  were 
adopted  for  the  government  of  the  miners  of  said  district. 

"  ART.  1.  All  quartz  claims  hereafter  located  shall  be  two 
hundred  feet  on  the  lead,  including  all  its  dips  and  angles. 

"  ART.  2.  All  discoverers  of  new  quartz  veins  shall  be  enti- 
tled to  an  additional  claim  for  discovery. 

"  ART.  3.  All  claims  shall  be  designated  by  stakes  and  no- 
tices at  each  corner. 

"  ART.  4.  All  quartz  claims  shall  be  worked  to  the  amount 
of  ten  dollars  or  three  days'  work  per  month  to  each  claim,  and 
the  owner  can  work  to  the  amount  of  forty  dollars  as  soon  after 
the  location  of  the  claim  as  he  may  elect ;  which  amount  being 


200  HAND-BOOK   OP   MINING. 

worked,  shall  exempt  him  from  working  on  said  claim  for  six 
months  thereafter. 

"  ART.  5.  All  quartz  claims  shall  be  designated  and  known 
by  a  name  and  in  sections. 

"  ART.  6.  All  claims  shall  be  properly  recorded  within  ten 
days  from  the  time  of  location. 

"  ART.  7.  All  claims  recorded  in  the  Gold  Hill  record  and 
lying  in  Virginia  district,  shall  be  recorded  free  of  charge  in 
the  record  of  Virginia  district,  upon  the  presentation  of  a  cer- 
tificate from  the  recorder  of  Gold  Hill  district,  certifying  that 
said  claims  have  been  duly  recorded  in  said  district ;  and  said 
claims  shall  be  recorded  within  thirty  days  after  the  passage  of 
this  article. 

"  ART.  9.  Surface  and  hill  claims  shall  be  one  hundred  feet 
square,  and  be  designated  by  stakes  and  notices  at  each  corner. 

"ART.  10.  All  ravine  and  gulch  claims  shall  be  one  hundred 
feet  in  length,  and  in  width  extend  from  bank  to  bank,  and  be 
designated  by  a  stake  and  notice  at  each  end. 

"  ART.  11.  All  claims  shall  be  worked  within  ten  days  after 
water  can  be  had  sufficient  to  work  said  claims. 

"  ART.  12.  All  ravine,  gulch  and  surface  claims  shall  be  re- 
corded within  ten  days  after  location. 

"  ART.  13.  All  claims  not  worked  according  to  the  laws  of 
this  district,  shall  be  forfeited  and  subject  to  relocation. 

"  ART.  14.  There  shall  be  a  recorder  elected,  to  hold  his 
office  for  the  term  of  twelve  months,  who  shall  be  entitled  to 
the  sum  of  fifty  cents  for  each  claim  located  and  recorded. 

"  ART.  15.  The  recorder  shall  keep  a  book  with  all  the  laws 
of  this  district  written  therein,  which  shall  at  all  times  be  sub- 
ject to  the  inspection  of  the  miners  of  said  district ;  and  he 
is  furthermore  required  to  post  in  two  conspicuous  places,  a 
copy  of  the  laws  of  said  district. 

"  On  motion,  it  was  resolved  that  these  laws  be  published 
in  the  Territorial  Enterprise  for  one  month." 

Silver   Regulations   of  the    Genoa  District. 

\  180.  The  mining  regulations  of  the  Genoa  district,  in 
Nevada  Territory,  are  the  following  : 

"SECTION!.  The  district  shall  be  known  by  the  name  of 
the  Genoa  Mining  District,  and  shall  be  bounded  as  follows, 
to  wit :  On  the  north  by  the  Eagle  Valley  District ;  on  the 
east  by  the  Carson  river  ;  on  the  south  by  an  east  and  west 
line  crossing  at  Mott's  Mill ;  on  the  west  by  Lake  Bigier. 


THE   LAWS   OF   MINING   IN   CALIFORNIA.  201 

"  SEC.  2.  The  officers  of  this  district  shall  consist  of  a  Presi- 
dent, Vice  President,  and  Recorder,  elected  by  those  taking 
part  in  these  proceedings,  who  shall  hold  their  respective  offices 
for  the  term  of  one  year  from  the  date  of  the  election. 

"  SEC.  3.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  President  to  call  all 
necessary  meetings  of  the  miners  of  this  district,  to  preside 
thereat,  and  to  discharge  the  duties  pertaining  to  said  office. 

"  SEC.  4.  In  the  absence  of  the  President  from  the  district, 
or  his  inability  to  act,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Vice  Presi- 
dent to  act  in  his  stead. 

4<  SEC.  5.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Recorder  to  keep,  in  a 
suitable  book  or  books,  a  full  and  truthful  record  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  all  public  meetings  ;  to  place  on  record  all  claims 
brought  to  him  for  that  purpose,  when  such  claim  shall  not 
interfere  with  or  affect  the  rights  and  interests  of  prior  loca- 
tors, recording  the  same  in  the  order  of  their  date  ;  for  which 
service  he  shall  receive  fifty  cents  for  each  claim  recorded  and 
forty  cents  per  folio  for  recording  the  transfer,  bill  of  sale  or 
deed  of  and  to  any  mining  property.  It  shall  also  be  the  duty 
of  the  Recorder  to  keep  his  books  open  at  all  times  to  the  in- 
spection of  the  public.  He  shall  have  the  power  to  appoint  a 
deputy  to  act  in  his  stead,  for  whose  official  acts  he  shall  be 
held  responsible. 

"  SEC.  6.  All  examinations  of  the  record  must  be  made  in  the 
full  presence  of  the  Recorder  or  his  deputy  ;  and  in  no  instance 
shall  any  person  or  persons  making  examinations  of  such 
record  be  permitted  to  use  pen  and  ink  ;  the  Recorder  shall 
furnish  to  such  person  or  persons  examining  the  records  a  lead 
pencil,  with  which  memoranda  may  be  made. 

"  SEC.  7.  Notice  of  a  claim  or  location  of  mining  ground, 
by  any  individual  or  by  a  company,  on  file  in  the  Recorder's 
office,  shall  be  deemed  equivalent  to  a  record  of  the  same. 

"  SEC.  8.  Each  claimant  shall  be  entitled  to  hold  by  loca- 
tion, two  hundred  feet  on  any  lead  in  the  district,  with  all  its 
dips,  angles  and  spurs,  off-shoots,  out-crops,  depths,  widths, 
variations,  and  all  the  minerals  and  other  valuables  therein 
contained  ;  the  discoverer  of  and  locator  on  a  new  lead  being 
entitled  to  one  claim  extra  for  discovery. 

"  SEC.  9.  The  locators  of  any  lead,  lode  or  ledge  in  the  dis- 
trict, shall  be  entitled  to  hold,  on  each  side  of  the  lead,  ledge 
•  or  lode,  located  by  him  or  them,  two  hundred  feet.  Any 
lateral  veins,  lodes  or  leads  bearing  minerals,  within  the  space 
8 


202  HAND-BOOK   OP   MINING. 

of  the  said  two  hundred  feet  on  each  side  of  the  main  ledge, 
shall  be  considered  as  claimed  by  and  entirely  belonging  to  the 
locator  or  locators  of  a  lead  and  his  or  their  assigns,  and  part 
and  parcel  of  the  same  mine. 

"  SEC.  10.  It  shall  be  the  privilege  of  any  person,  persons 
or  company,  when  the  vein,  ledge  or  lode  of  mineral  is  not  dis- 
tinctly traceable  upon  the  surface,  to  take  up  the  ground  they 
desire  to  prospect,  stating  in  their  notice  the  manner  in  which 
they  intend  to  prospect  the  same,  whether  by  running  a  tunnel, 
cut  and  drifts,  or  shafts,  and  the  length  or  depth  of  such  tunnel, 
cut  or  shaft  and  drifts.  If  the  locator  or  locators  who  claim 
ground  for  mining  purposes  shall  disclose  their  intention  to 
run  a  tunnel  into,  through  or  across  the  line  of  their  claim, 
then  it  shall  be  understood  that  the  length  of  the  tunnel  which 
their  notice  declares  it  to  be  their  intention  of  running,  shall 
be  and  is  hereby  intended  to  grant  and  determine  the  width  of 
claim  located,  and  no  person  or  persons  shall  be  allowed  to 
locate  claims  coming  within  the  distance  and  bounds  claimed 
by  such  notice  of  record. 

"  SEC.  11.  Any  person  or  persons,  company  or  companies, 
who  shall  locate  ground  under  these  laws,  shall  be  entitled  to 
hold  and  enjoy  and  receive  all  the  profit  of  working  any  and 
all  leads,  lodes  or  ledges  of  mineral  deposits,  found  on  and 
within  the  limits  of  their  location  and  claim,  by  the  running  of 
tunnel,  cut  or  shaft  and  drifts,  on  any  part  of  the  ground 
claimed,  which  shall  be  considered  as  work  done  upon  the 
claims,  and  if  such  work  amounts  to  that  required  by  these 
laws,  the  title  of  the  ground  claimed  shall  be  deemed  to  vest 
in  the  locators  and  their  assigns. 

"  SEC.  12.  Every  claim,  whether  by  individual  or  by  com- 
pany located,  shall  be  recorded  within  ten  days  after  the  date 
of  location. 

"  SEC.  13.  Three  days'  labor  shall  be  done  on  each  claim,  or 
on  the  company's  ground  for  each  claim,  in  order  to  hold  the 
same,  from  this  date  until  the  first  day  of  June,  1861.  The 
work  so  required  must  be  commenced  within  thirty  days  after 
date  of  record,  and  fully  performed  within  ninety  days  after 
commencement. 

•  SEC.  14.  Whenever  work  shall  have  been  done  upon  the 
claims  of  a  company,  deemed  to  be  of  the  value  or  cost  of  five 
hundred  dollars  or  upwards,  the  claims  on  which  such  sums 
shall  have  been  expended  cannot  and  shall  not  be  subject  to 


THE    LAWS    OF   MINING    IN    CALIFORNIA.  203 

a  forfeiture  and  relocation  for  the  term  of  one  year  from  the 
date  of  the  last  work  done. 

"  SEC.  15.  Whenever  one  thousand  dollars  shall  have  been 
expended  on  the  claims  of  a  company  in  this  district,  the 
ground  so  claimed  by  the  company  shall  be  deemed  as  belong- 
ing in  fee  to  the  locators  thereof,  and  their  assigns ;  and  the 
same  shall  not  be  subject  to  location  or  relocation  by  other 
parties  ever  after,  except  by  an  acknowledged  abandonment 
by  the  company  of  the  ground. 

"  SEC.  16.  The  Recorder  shall  go  upon  the  ground  with  any 
and  all  parties  desiring  to  locate  claims,  and  shall  be  entitled 
to  receive  for  such  service,  say  for  a  company  locating  of  ten 
or  more  names,  five  dollars ;  and  for  each  location  numbering 
less  than  ten  names,  fifty  cents  each. 

"  SEC.  17.  Location  of  claims  to  mining  ground  may  be 
made  within  this  district,  between  the  dates  of  October,  1860, 
and  the  first  of  May,  A.  D.  1861,  and  any  such  claims  so  lo- 
cated and  recorded,  shall  not  be  subject  to  forfeit  or  deemed 
forfeited  and  subject  to  relocation,  for  not  working  within  these 
dates.  Claims  located  as  in  this  section  of  the  laws,  must  be 
represented,  and  work  commenced  on  the  first  day  of  May  next, 
or  such  claims  shall  be  deemed  forfeited  and  subject  to  relocation. 

"  SEC.  18.  These  laws  contemplate  and  provide  for  the  lo- 
cation of  two  classes  of  claims — one  to  be  denominated  *  crop- 
pings  '  claims,  being  ledges  or  lodes  visible ;  and  the  other  to 
be  called  '  tunnel '  claims,  indicating  that  the  ledge  or  lode 
claimed  is  not  distinctly  traceable  on  the  surface. 

"  SEC.  19.  An  election  of  officers  shall  be  held,  at  a  place 
within  this  district  to  be  designated  by  public  notice  of  the 
President,  in  one  year  from  the  date  of  the  adoption  of  these 
rules  and  laws.  A  vacancy  can  be  filled  by  an  election,  on  the 
call  of  the  President  at  any  time,  by  giving  ten  days'  notice. 
All  officers  to  hold  until  their  successors  are  duly  qualified. 
No  person  shall  be  allowed  to  vote  after  the  adoption  of  these 
laws  and  the  election  of  officers,  at  any  subsequent  election, 
except  such  voter  be  an  actual  owner  of  a  claim  or  claims  in 
this  district. 

"  SEC.  20.  This  constitution,  rules  or  mining  laws,  may  be 
altered  or  amended  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  those  owning 
claims  in  the  district,  at  any  time  twenty  days'  notice  of  such 
•  intention  shall  have  been  given  in  the  Territorial  Enterprise 
and  Sacramento  Union,  and  shall  have  been  posted  in  three 
public  places  in  the  district." 


CHAPTER   XII. 

MISCELLANY. 


Value  of  G-old  According  to  Fineness.  \  181. 
Pure  gold,  1000  fine,  is  worth  $20.67  per  ounce  ;  gold  500 
fine,  is  worth  $10.33;  600,  $12.40;  700,  $14.47;  800, 
$16.53;  900,  $18.60.  The  gold  dust,  as  obtained  from  the 
placers,  is  usually  sold  by  the  miners  to  the  merchants  and 
bankers  of  the  town  where  they  do  their  trading.  The  buy- 
ers of  dust  know  the  value  of  the  dust  from  the  different  dis- 
tricts, and  are  usually  acquainted  with  the  sellers ;  so  they 
know  at  what  price  they  can  make  a  profit.  The  buyers  send 
their  dust  to  San  Francisco  by  Wells,  Fargo  &  Co.'s  express, 
which  has  an  office  in  every  town  of  note  between  the  Colorado 
and  Fraser  river.  The  charge  for  bringing  the  dust  to  San 
Francisco  varies  from  one  quarter  of  one  per  cent.,  to  two  and 
a,  quarter  per  cent.  From  Yreka,  the  price  is  two  per  cent.  ; 
from  Shasta,  one  per  cent. ;  from  Nevada  and  Columbia,  three- 
eighths  of  one  per  cent. ;  from  Placerville,  one-quarter  of  one 
per  cent,  and  so  forth. 

Gold  Dust  Trade  in  California,  g  182.  At  San 
Francisco,  the  dust  is  sent  either  to  the  Mint,  or  to  a  private 
assay  office.  Dust  is  never  sent  away  now,  except  in  small 
quantities,  and  as  a  curiosity  ;  before  shipment,  it  is  nearly  all 
converted  into  bars  or  coin.  At  the  Mint,  the  gold  is  melted, 
assayed,  refined  and  coined.  The  charge  for  melting,  assaying 
and  refining,  is  fourteen  cents  per  ounce  ;  and  no  deposits  are 
received  in  less  sums  than  one  hundred  dollars.  The  charge 
for  coining  is  one  half  of  one  per  cent.  All  gold  deposited  in 
the  Mint  must  be  melted,  assayed,  refined  and  coined  ;  the 
deposit  cannot  be  withdrawn  after  assay.  The  depositor  must 


MISCELLANY.  205 

wait  from  four  days  to  three  weeks,  before  he  receives  the 
value  of  his  deposit  in  coin.  He  may  have  a  refined  bar,  if 
he  please  ;  (and  making  refined  bars  comes  under  the  head  of 
coining)  but  refined  bars  are  seldom  made  now. 

At  private  assay  offices,  the  gold  is  simply  melted,  made 
into  a  bar,  assayed,"  and  the  value  stamped  on-  the  bar.  The 
charge  for  this  is  one-fourth  of  one  per  cent.,  if  the  sum  be 
eight  hundred  dollars  or  more ;  two  dollars,  if  less.  San 
Francisco  has,  at  present,  no  private  refinery  for  gold  ;  the 
last  one  was  closed  in  November,  1860.  The  charge  for 
melting,  assaying  and  refining,  was  ten  cents  per  ounce.  At 
private  assay  offices,  the  owner  of  dust  gets  the  money  for  it 
within  twenty-four  hours. 

How  Gold  is  Coined.  §  183.  The  following  is  a 
description  of  the  processes  through  which  the  gold  goes  in 
the  Mint. 

The  first  room  in  the  regular  order  of  the  bnsiness  of  the 
Mint,  is  the  deposit  room.  Here  the  metal  is  taken  and 
weighed,  and  a  receipt  given.  The  gold  is  then  taken  to  the 
melting  room,  where  each  deposit  is  melted  separately,  in  a 
black-lead  crucible,  and  upon  the  melted  mass  saltpetre  and 
soda  are  thrown  and  stirred  round  to  oxydize  the  base  metals, 
and  the  gold  and  more  sterling  metals,  thoroughly  mixed,  are 
cast  into  a  bar.  After  being  taken  to  the  Weigh  Koom  and 
weighed,  it  is  ready  for  the  Assay  Department.  The  assayer, 
with  a  chisel,  chips  off  a  corner  from  the  bar,  and  the  chip  is 
melted  and  cast  into  a  button,  to  give  a  round  form,  so  that  it 
may  be  easily  rolled  out.  It  is  rolled  into  a  ribbon,  and  filed 
down  till  it  weighs  exactly  ten  grains,  weighed  by  a  scale 
which  turns  at  the  thousandth  part  of  a  grain.  The  ribbon  is 
rolled  up  with  sheet  lead,  placed  in  a  cup  called  a  cupel,  made 
of  calcined  bone  ashes,  and  placed  in  a  heat  sufficient  to  melt 
the  gold,  and  the  base  metals,  copper,  tin,  etc.,  are  absorbed 
by  the  porous  material  of  the  cupel,  or  carried  off  in  oxyda- 
tion.  The  gold  is  then  pure,  except  an  admixture  of  silver. 
The  button  is  again  rolled  out  into  a  ribbon  about  as  thick  as 
ordinary  letter  paper,  and  boiled  in  nitric  acid,  which  dissolves 
the  silver  and  leaves  the  gold  pure,  which  is  weighed,  and  the 
amount  which  it  has  lost  gives  an  exact  measure  of  the  quan- 
tity of  impurity  in  the  original  bar.  Thus,  if  the  piece 
assayed  weighs  nine  grains,  then  nine-tenths  of  the  bar  is  pure 


206  HAND-BOOK   OP  MINING. 

gold  ;  and  the  clerk  in  the  Deposit  Boom  can  immediately 
give  a  certificate  of  the  amount  of  coin  due  the  depositor. 

After  the  bars  have  been  assayed,  they  are,  as  a  general 
rule,  thrown  in  together,  indiscriminately,  as  the  property  of 
of  the  Mint.  The  first  process  in  the  granulating  room,  is  to 
melt  the  gold  with  twice  the  weight  of  silver ;  and  while 
melted,  it  is  poured  into  water  mixed  with  a  little  nitric  acid, 
and  the  metal  falls  to  the  bottom  in  fine  grains.  The  granu- 
lated gold  is  taken  out,  and  cast  into  large  stone  or  porcelain 
pots,  holding  about  fifteen  gallons  of  nitric  acid.  These  pots 
sit  in  hot  water,  heated  by  steam,  and  the  boiling  acid  soon 
leaves  the  gold  pure  from  all  silver,  copper,  lead,  tin,  zinc  or 
other  base  metals.  It  is  taken  out,  filtered,  washed,  dried,  and 
again  taken  to  the  melting  room,  where  it  is  melted  with  nine 
per  cent,  of  copper,  and  one  per  cent,  of  silver,  to  make  it  of 
the  standard  alloy  of  nine  hundred-thousandths  fine. 

The  gold  thus  alloyed  is  run  into  bars  a  foot  long,  an  inch 
thick,  and  of  the  proper  width  for  coin,  from  an  inch  and  a 
half  for  double  eagles,  down  to  half  an  inch  for  dollars.  The 
bars  are  delivered  over  to  the  coiner. 

The  coiner's  first  process  is  to  put  the  bars  through  the  roll- 
ing mill,  which  has  two  heavy  rollers  of  cast  steel,  ten  inches 
long  and  eight  inches  in  diameter,  rolling  together.  The  bars 
are  thus  rolled  out  a  number  of  times,  until  they  are  nearly 
the  proper  thickness  of  the  coin.  The  rolling  mill  is  made  so 
that  the  bars  can  be  rolled  out  of  any  thickness.  The  bars, 
when  rolled  out  several  times,  become  somewhat  brittle,  and 
are  then  taken  to  the  Annealing  Room.  This  room  contains  a 
large  furnace  of  brick-work,  with  long  chambers  to  receive  the 
bars,  which  are  placed  in  copper  tubes  and  heated  to  a  cherry 
red.  The  gold  is  thus  made  softer  and  more  ductile,  and  is 
again  taken  to  the  rolling  mill,  rolled  sufficiently,  and  again 
annealed  previous  to  being  drawn.  The  bars  cannot  be  rolled 
out  to  an  -exactly  equal  thickness,  and  to  secure  exactness  in 
this  respect,  the  bar  is  drawn  through  an  orifice  in  a  piece  of 
steel,  and  this  orifice  being  somewhat  smaller  than  the  bar  as 
rolled,  reduces  the  whole  to  the  same  exact  width  and  thick- 
ness. The  bar,  not  quite  as  thick  as  the  coin,  is  taken  thence 
to  the  cutting  machine,  which,  by  a  punch,  cuts  out  from  the 
bar  round  pieces,  a  little  larger  than  the  coin.  These  pieces 
are  called  blanks.  They  are  carried  to  the  Annealing  Room, 
again  annealed  and  washed  with  soap  and  water.  They  are 


MISCELLANY.  207 

then  taken  to  the  Adjusting  Boom.  Here  each  blank  js 
weighed  separately,  and  made  the  exact  weight  for  the  coin. 
If  too  heavy,  the  blank  is  filed  down  ;  if  too  light,  it  is  thrown 
into  a  box  to  be  re-melted.  The  work  in  this  room  is  done 
entirely  by  women* 

The  adjusted  blanks  are  run  through  the  milling  machine, 
which  compresses  the  blank  to  the  exact  diameter  of  the  coin 
and  raises  the  edge.  The  purpose  of  making  the  edge  thicker 
is  to  make  the  coin  pile  neatly,  to  protect  the  figures  and  to 
improve  the  general  appearance.  About  two  hundred  and 
fifty  blanks  are  milled  in  a  minute. 

The  milled  blanks  are  carried  back  to  the  annealing  room, 
placed  in  an  air-tight  cast  iron  box  and  placed  in  the  furnace 
to  be  annealed,  so  that  they  may  take  the  impression  well. 
When  they  are  at  a  cherry  red  they  are  taken  out  and  poured 
immediately  into  water  with  a  little  sulphuric  acid.  This 
softens  and  cleanses  the  gold.  The  blanks  are  taken  out, 
washed  with  cold  water,  put  into  hot  water  again,  taken  out, 
mixed  in  with  saw-dust,  which  is  then  sifted  off  and  the  blanks 
are  dried  and  perfectly  clean. 

They  are  again  taken  to  the  coining  and  milling  room,  and 
stamped.  The  coining  machine  is  elegant  and  massive.  The 
blanks  are  placed  in  a  tube  or  pipe,  and  from  this  the  machine 
takes  them  one  by  one,  puts  them  between  the  dies,  stamps 
them,  throws  them  out  of  the  die  and  carries  them  down  into 
a  box,  and  they  are  then  delivered  to  the  Treasurer  and  are 
ready  for  circulation. 

About  one-fourth  of  the  gold  yield  of  the  coast  goes  to  the 
San  Francisco  mint,  the  only  mint  on  the  coast.  The  treasure 
exported  from  San  Francisco  in  1860,  was  $42,325,916  ;  the 
gold  deposits  of  the  mint  during  the  same  period  amounted  to 
$11,219,209.  About  $31,000,000  were  therefore  exported  in 
unrefined  bars  and  in  dust.  A  small  portion  of  tHt  export  was 
silver.  The  number  of  deposits  made  at  the  mint  in  1860  was 
4,841,  showing  that  the  average  value  of  the  deposits  was 
$2,271.  The  gold  coinage  of  the  year  amounted  to  $11,178,- 
000,  of  which  $10,899,000  was  in  double  eagles,  and  $179,000 
in  smaller  pieces.  Of  silver,  $264,000  was  coined  in  half  dol- 
lars, quarter  dollars  and  dimes;  and  $216,678  in  refined  silver 
bars.  No  three  cent  pieces,  copper  or  nickels  have  ever  been 
coined  in  California,  nor  are  they  used  in  the  country ;  and 
half  dimes  are  very  rare. 


208      .  HAND-BOOK  OP   MINING. 

Private  Coins  of  California.  \  1&4.  Previous  to 
the'  year  1856,  much  gold  coin  was  made  in  California  by  pri- 
vate persons.  The  coins  were  not  made  of  the  standard  fine- 
ness required  in  the  mint,  but  were  usually  about  880  fine,  and 
contained  no  alloy  save  silver,  which  gave  the  coin  a  light  yel- 
low color.  Previous  to  '53,  there  was  such  a  lack  of  coin,  that 
a  large  proportion  of  the  private  coin  was  in  fifty  dollar  pieces 
called  "  slugs "  or  "  adobes,"  octagonal  in  shape,  about  two 
inches  and  a  quarter  across  and  an  eighth  of  an  inch  thick. 
These  slugs,  as  well  as  all  the  private  coin,  have  disappeared 
from  circulation,  and  are  almost  as  great  curiosities  in  Califor- 
nia as  elsewhere. 

Gold  Export  of  California.    ;  185.  The  $42,325,- 

916  exported  in  1860,  was  sent  to  the  following  places  : 

New  York $35,661.500  New  Orleans $57,796 

China 3,374,680  Sandwich  Islands 40,680 

England 2,672,936  Victoria,  V.  1 25,100 

Panama 300,819  Mexico 19,400 

Japan 94,200  Costa  Rica 3,145 

Manila 75,660  

Total $42,325,916 

The  gold  sent  to  New  York  is  shipped  on  the  mail  steamers 
via  Panama.  The  cost  of  the  shipment  is  three  per  cent.,  in- 
cluding one  and  one-fourth  per  cent,  for  insurance. 

The  largest  shippers  are  Wells,  Fargo  &  Co's  Express  Com- 
pany and  Banking  House,  B.  Davidson,  banker  and  agent  of 
the  Rothschilds,  and  Alsop  &  Co.,  bankers.  During  I860,  W., 
F.  &  Co.  shipped  about  $6,000,000,  Davidson  about  $5,000,- 
000,  and  Alsop  &  Co.  about  $5,000,000,  these  three  houses 
shipping  nearly  two-fifths  of  the  entire  export  of  treasure. 
The  treasure  sent  to  China,  Japan,  Manila,  the  Sandwich 
Islands  and  Mexico  goes  in  trading  vessels. 

Cheats  in  Mining.  $  186.  Mining  is  a  precarious 
business,  and  should  be  undertaken  by  inexperienced  persons 
with  great  caution.  It  is  impossible  to  know  the  cash  value  of 
a  metalliferous  lead  or  a  placer  claim,  and  the  occupation  is 
one  wherein  people  are  peculiarly  liable  to  be  carried  away  by 
excitements  and  by  the  hope  of  making  fortunes  suddenly,  to 
pay  much  more  for  claims  than  they  are  really  worth.  There 
are  also  many  modes  of  deceiving  buyers.  Sellers  of  veins  of 
auriferous  or  argentiferous  quartz  will  procure  specimens  from 
richer  veins,  and  represent  them  as  coming  from  their  own ;  or 


MISCELLANY.  209 

will  select  a  few  rich  specimens  of  their  ore  and  represent  them 
as  fair  specimens  of'  the  whole,  or  when  the  rock  is  sent  to  the 
assayer,  they  will  slip  in  some  pure  metal.  Sometimes  a  rogue, 
to  decrease  the  yield  of  auriferous  quartz,  will  put  grease  into 
the  battery,  and  placer  miners  not  unfrequently  "  salt "  their 
claims  which  they  wish  to  sell,  by  putting  in  gold  dust.  If 
the  claim  contain  stiff  clay,  it  may  be  u  salted  "  by  shooting 
gold  dust  into  it  from  a  pistol.  The  Oroville  Record  tells  the 
following  as  a  statement  of  events  that  happened  about  De- 
cember, 1860  : 

"  A  party  not  a  thousand  miles  from  Oroville  had  a  quartz 
ledge  and  mill  which  it  was  found  desirable  to  dispose  of.  Pro- 
curing some  really  valuable  quartz,  in  which  the  precious  metal 
was  plainly  visible,  they  announced  their  willingness  for  parties 
desiring  to  purchase,  to  test  the  ledge.  This  was  accepted  by 
'  party  of  the  second  part,'  who  proceeded  to  prospect  quartz 
procured  for  the  occasion,  by  the  '  party  of  the  first  part  afore- 
said/ The  party  proposing  to  purchase  knew  the  quartz  was 
valuable  on  sight,  but  desiring  to  purchase  cheap,  were  not  par- 
ticularly anxious  to  produce  a  rich  prospect,  and  deposited  a 
tallow  candle  or  two  in  the  arastra.  The  grease  prevented 
amalgamation,  and  the  rich  quartz  was  duly  crushed,  then 
ground  into  impalpable  powder,  but  produced  a  very  diminu- 
tive prospect.  The  ledge  was  pronounced  comparatively  val- 
ueless, and  was  purchased  cheap,  by  the  prospecting  "party  of 
the  second  part,  aforesaid."  Of  course,  the  purchasers  found 
no  more  valuable  quartz,  and  were  broken  in  a  few  months." 

John  Arthur  Phillips,  in  his  Records  of  Mining  and  Metal- 
lurgy, (pp.  197-199)  gives  the  following  advice  : 

"  The  uncertain  nature  of  metalliferous  mining  affords  un- 
usual facilities  for  making  unscrupulous  misrepresentations,  and 
consequently,  whenever,  through  the  abundance  o/  money  or 
other  favorable  causes,  the  public  mind  becomes  credulous,  it 
admits  the  grossest  misstatements  without  examination,  and 
readily  consents  to  pay  exorbitant  sums  for  properties  which 
are  probably  altogether  worthless,  or  at  least  of  but  little  in- 
trinsic value.  Sooner  or  later,  however,  the  truth  is  arrived 
at,  and  under  the  influence  of  a  violent  reaction,  an  industry 
that  deserves  well  is  denounced  as  a  delusion,  whilst  the  real 
circumstances  producing  the  evil  are  either  slurred  over  or  for- 
gotten. 

"  It  is  often  asked  if  mining,  on  the  whole,  is  a  profitable 


210  HAND-BOOK   OF    MINING. 

industry.  It  may  be  replied  that  it  is  not  only  profitable,  but 
largely  so,  provided  caution  and  judgment  be  exercised  in 
selecting  the  mines,  and  due  integrity,  skill  and  economy  dis- 
played in  their  management.  If,  however,  these  conditions  be 
not  fulfilled,  the  most  disastrous  consequences  may  be  antici- 
pated ;  since  worthless  undertakings  will  in  this  case  be  sup- 
ported by  the  public,  and  after  subscribers  have  paid  extrava- 
gant premiums  for  indifferent  properties,  the  capital  necessary 
to  develope  them  will  either  be  squandered  or  injudiciously 
spent.  *  *  *  A  capitalist  wishing  to  become  associated 
with  a  company  prosecuting  a  mining  enterprise,  should  first 
inquire  -into  the  character  of  the  district  in  which  the  mine  is 
situated ;  secondly,  the  honesty  and  ability  of  the  person  re- 
porting on  it ;  and  thirdly,  ascertain  if  the  shareholders  gen- 
erally are  in  a  position  to  meet  the  demands  which  a  vigorous 
trial  would  be  likely  to  impose  on  them.  The  constitution  of 
the  undertaking  should  also  be  investigated.  Free  shares  are 
generally  objectionable,  and  the  system  of  giving  a  large  sum 
of  money  for  an  untried  property  is  highly  pernicious  ;  since  in 
addition  to  its  effects  upon  the  ultimate  profits  of  the  concern, 
it  encourages  misstatements,  and  tends  to  support  a  class  of 
unscrupulous  speculators,  through  whose  agency  this  branch  of 
industry  has  been  chiefly  brought  into  disrepute. 

"  All  mineral  explorations  should  be  conducted  as  rapidly  as 
possible,  for  the  purpose  of  lessening  the  aggregate  amount  of 
dead  charges,  and  a  practical,  intelligent  and  honest  man 
should  be  entrusted  with  the  direction  of  the  works.  It  is  by 
no  means  essential  that  such  a  person  should  possess  an  elabo- 
rate education  ;  but  his  ideas  relative  to  the  exigencies  of  his 
profession  should  be  clear  and  well  defined,  and  he  ought, 
moreover,  to  be  familiar  with  the  use  of  the  dial  and  with  all 
the  various  operations  of  dressing  and  preparing  the  ores  for 
the  market.  Grave  mistakes  are  frequently  committed  by 
entrusting  the  local  management  of  mineral  undertakings  to 
men  who  possess  but  a  superficial  acquaintance  with  the  sub- 
ject, and  who  sink  large  sums  of  money  in  the  multiplicity  of 
their  schemes  for  economizing  expenditure.  Such  persons 
often  make  extensive  surface  erections  before  proceeding  to 
the  development  of  the  underground  works,  and  from  mere 
love  of  display  absorb  an  undue  proportion  of  the  capital,  for- 
getting that  their  arrangements  can  only  be  valuable  in  pro- 
portion as  the  mine  itself  becomes  productive.  Hence  the 


MISCELLANY.  211 

undertaking  becomes  prematurely  embarrassed,  and  is  some- 
times obliged,  from  this  very  cause  alone,  to  terminate  its 
existence. 

"The  radical  'principle  to  be  observed  by  the  capitalist, 
when  about  to  invest  money  in  profitable  or  established  mines, 
is  to  distribute  his  means  over  a  considerable  number  of  them  ; 
since  to  adventure  in  any  single  concern  is,  with  the  best  ad- 
vice, a  matter  of  considerable  risk.  Moreover,  it  is  not  judi- 
cious to  confine  investments  to  one  district  or  to  one  class  of 
mines  alone  ;  but  to  select  the  richest  localities,  and  according 
to  their  importance,  give  the  best  mines  they  contain  a  pro 
rata  proportion  of  capital.  It  should  also  be  borne  in  mind, 
that  certain  adventures  are  so  worked  as  to  afford  regular  pe- 
riodical dividends,  while  others  only  yield  returns  at  irregular 
intervals.  These  two  classes  of  properties  do  not  necessarily 
imply  that  different  systems  are  pursued  in  their  management. 
Permanent  dividend  mines  are  often  more  advanced  in  their 
explorations  than  those  which  yield  irregular  profits  ;  and 
although  the  percentage  of  returns  is  steadier  in  the  former, 
yet  the  probability  of  improvement  in  the  market  value  may 
be  considered  greater  in  the  latter ;  thus  allowing  capitalists 
to  realize  a  profit  in  one  case  which  could  not  be  obtained  in 
the  other." 

How  the  Miners  Live.  §  187.  Most  of  the  miners 
live  in  a  rough  manner.  The  proportion  of  those  who  work 
for  wages  varies  from  one-third  to  two-thirds.  Not  one-half 
of  them  lay  up  any  money.  Many  earn  money  with  ease,  and 
spend  it  as  fast  as  they  make  it.  Men  engaged  in  mining  are 
not  noted,  as  a  class,  for  sobriety  and  economy.  Their  occu- 
pation seems  to  have  an  influence  to  make  them  spendthrifts, 
.  and  fond  of  riotous  living.  Not  more  than  on£  Californian 
miner  in  five  has  a  wife  and  family  with  him.  Most  of  the 
others  are  unmarried,  and  have  no  prospect  of  matrimony. 
The  women  are  not  in  the  State  now  to  furnish  them  with 
wives,  and  before  the  women  can  come,  the  men  will  have 
grown  old.  The  people  as  a  mass,  in  the  mining  districts,  are 
very  intelligent.  They  came  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  have 
seen  much  of  life  in  multitudinous  phases,  and  have  profited 
by  their  experience. 

Miners'  wages  are  from  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents  to  four 
dollars  per  day,  without  boarding-;  or  from  twenty-five  to 
thirty  dollars  per  month,  with  boarding. 


212  HAND-BOOK   OF  MINING. 

Cost  of  Living.  \  1 88.  The  cost  of  living  in  the  mines 
of  California  is  about  twice  as  much  as  in  the  Eastern  States. 
The  prices  of  flour,  sugar,  coffee,  tea,  beef  and  ready-made 
clothing,  are  about  the  same  at  San  Franci§co  as  at  New 
York ;  pork,  fresh  butter,  eggs,  fresh  fruit,  milk,  chickens,  and 
the  labor  of  domestic  servants,  are  about  four  times  as  dear. 
Boarding  in  the  mining  towns  costs  three  or  four  times  as 
much  as  it  would  cost  in  towns  of  the  same  size  in  the  Eastern 
States.  The  prices  of  merchandise  vary  greatly  in  the  mining 
towns,  according  to  the  supply  and  demand.  Nearly  all  the 
imported  merchandise  consumed  in  the  mines,  is  hauled  in 
wagons  from  Sacramento  and  Stockton,  at  a  cost  of  from  one 
to  three  cents  per  pound,  during  the  summer.  In  the  winter, 
the  roads  to  many  districts  are  impassable  for  loaded  teams, 
and  if  the  supply  should  then  run  out,  the  prices  rise  to  a  high 
figure.  Provisions  and  merchandise  in  Washoe  and  the  mines 
of  British  Columbia  and  Washington  Territory,  cost  from  ten 
to  twenty  cents  per  pound  more  than  in  San  Francisco. 

Mineral  Lands  should  be  Sold.  \  189.  It  has 
long  been  my  opinion  that  the  mineral  lands,  or  a  large  portion 
of  the  land  in  the  mineral  districts  of  California,  should  be 
sold.  Not  more  than  one-fortieth  of  the  land  within  the  limits 
of  the  mineral  region  is  now  worked  in  mining  claims,  and 
nine-tenths  of  it  never  will  pay  to  work  for  minerals.  All  this 
land  is  withheld  from  sale  by  order  of  the  Federal  Government, 
and  the  U.  S.  Surveyor  has  orders  not  to  run  a  line  of  his  sur- 
veys within  five  miles  of  any  spot  where  miners  are  at  work. 
It  is  considered  a  matter  of  the  utmost  importance  in  other 
countries  and  in  other  parts  of  the  Union,  that  the  people 
should  own  the  soil.  Ownership  makes  the  people  permanent, 
and  induces  men  to  get  wives  and  comfortable  homes  ;  and  per- 
manence and  the  possession  of  families  and  homes  make  them 
temperate,  economical,  industrious  and  careful  of  their  repu- 
tations. Without  homes,  families  and  permanent  residence, 
they  must  be  intemperate,  idle,  wasteful  of  their  money,  re- 
gardless of  their  reputations,  and  without  hope  of  improvement 
in  the  future.  This  is  unfortunately  the  condition  of  many  of 
the  miners  of  California  at  the  present  time,  and  this  will  con- 
tinue to  be  the  condition  of  a  large  part  of  the  mining  popu- 
lation, until  they  are  tied  down  to  the  soil  by  ownership.  The 
unoccupied  land  of  the  mineral  districts  might  be  sold  without 


MISCELLANY.  213 

disturbing  in  the  least  any  vested  rights.  There  would  be  a 
great  demand  for  the  land  ;  the  buyers  would  become  perma- 
nent settlers  ;  absolute  ownership  in  tracts  of  eighty  and  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  would  induce  the  people  to  make  per- 
manent improvements  ;  families  would  increase ;  the  value  of 
land  would  rise  ;  and  society  and  trade  would  acquire  a  stability 
similar  to  that  of  other  states.  It  is  true  that  much  of  the  un- 
occupied land  may  be  rich  in  gold,  and  some  of  the  purchasers 
would  become  very  wealthy ;  but  their  wealth  would  be 
anchored  in  the  State,  which  would  derive  far  more  benefit 
than  if  the  gold  were  taken  out  by  a  dozen  men,  one-half  of 
whom  should  remove  to  a  distant  part  of  the  world  with  their 
money,  and  the  other  half  should  spend  their  earnings  in  dissi- 
pation. A  person  who  owns  a  large  tract  of  land  by  fee  simple 
title,  could  work  it  to  far  more  profit  than  a  multitude  of 
others  who  would  own  it  in  small  parcels,  and  who  would  have 
to  work  in  haste.  For  this  reason,  I  think  that  the  sale  of  the 
unoccupied  mineral  land  would  increase  the  amount  of  the  gold 
yield.  But  I  doubt  whether  the  interests  of  the  State  require 
that  all  the  auriferous  ground  should  be  washed.  In  many 
places  there  are  extensive  placers  which  will  pay  four  dollars 
per  day  to  the  miner,  whereas  a  farmer  could  not  make  more 
than  three  dollars  per  day  during  the  summer.  But  would  it 
not  be  better  that  a  farmer  should  have  the  land  ?  The  miner 
leaves  an  ugly  heap  of  gravel,  an  eye-sore,  a  desolation,  and 
worthless  forever  ;  whereas  the  farmer  would  make'a  beautiful 
home,  growing  more  valuable  every  year,  and  he  and  the  State 
would  derive  a  profit  from  it  for  all  time  to  come.  The  in- 
terests of  the  fee  simple  owner  are  thus  the  interests  of  the 
State,  to  which  the  vagrant  miner  is  a  natural  enemy.  The 
latter  looks  only  to  the  present ;  the  former  to  the  future. 
This  question  is  one  to  which  justice  has  never  pet  been  done. 
It  is  too  comprehensive  for  me  to  argue  it  here ;  and  I  can 
only  refer  the  reader,  who  desires  to  see  something  more  on  the 
subject,  to  a  letter  in  the  New  York  Daily  Tribune  of  the 
seventeenth  of  March,  1858,  or  to  an  article  in  the  Hesperian 
Magazine  of  San  Francisco,  for  January,  1860. 


APPENDIX. 


The  Divining  Rod.  I  inadvertently  omitted  to  men- 
tion in  the  proper  place,  under  the  head  of  "  Prospecting,"  that 
in  Washoe  and  California,  as  well  as  in  many  other  mining 
countries,  the  divining  rod  is  not  unfrequently  used  as  a  means 
of  finding  metalliferous  veins.  The  instrument  used  is  a  freshly 
cut  fork  of  hazel,  shaped  like  a  V,  with  the  arms  about  a  foot 
long,  and  perhaps  half  an  inch  in  thickness.  This  divining 
rod  is  held  horizontally  before  the  breast  of  the  prospector, 
one  arm  in  each  hand,  and  the  point  in  front.  Holding  it  thus 
he  walks  along  where  he  supposes  there  may  be  metallic  veins 
beneath  him,  and  when  he  is  over  a  lode,  the  point  of  the 
divining  rod  turns  down.  He  then  tries  other  places  near 
until  he  determines  the  course  and  position  of  the  lode.  Only 
a  few  persons  can  use  the  divining  rod  ;  for  the  great  majority 
it  resolutely  refuses  to  move.  The  process  is  precisely  similar 
to  that  of  finding  water  by  the  divining  rod.  and  it  is  used  in 
all  parts  of  the  United  States  and  Europe.  By  scientific  men, 
and  the  more  intelligent  people  generally,  belief  in  the  divining- 
rod  is  considered  superstitious  ;  but  in  the  mineral  districts  of 
Wisconsin,  Iowa,  Michigan  and  Nevada  Territory,  it  com- 
mands the  faith  of  many  persons  who  are  neither  ignorant  nor 
grossly  credulous.  I  am  not  prepared  to  ridicule  the  use  of 
the  divining  rod.  I  know  many  men  much  respected  in  San 
Francisco  for  honesty  and  good  common  sense,  who  declare 
that  they  have  seen  excellent  evidence  in  Washoe  of  the  trust- 
worthiness of  this  mode  of  prospecting.  Besides,  a  plausible 
explanation  of  the  principle  involved  has  been  submitted  to 
the  world  by  Baron  Reichenbach  (see  especially  page  60  of 
his  Odic-Magnetic  Letters,  translated  by  John  S.  Hittcll)  and 
until  his  theory  of  Od,  which  he  has  set  forth  with  great  clear- 
ness and  advocates  with  remarkable  learning  and  ability,  be 


APPENDIX.  215 

overthrown,  it  does  not  become  anybody  to  ridicule  the  di- 
vining rod. 

Potosi.  The  Marysville  Express  gives  the  following  ac- 
count of  the  Potosi  mines  : 

"  The  new  mines  are  situated  in  New  Mexico,  about  fifteen 
miles  north  of  the  California  line,  and  two  hundred  and  eighty 
miles  distant  from  Los  Angeles,  from  which  place  all  the  sup- 
plies are  obtained.  The  exact  locality  of  these  mines  is  latitude 
35°  51'  north,  and  longitude  115°  50'  west  from  Greenwich. 
Potosi  is  situated  near  the  Salt  Lake  and  Los  Angeles  road, 
about  five  or  six  miles  south-east  from  the  Mountain  Springs. 
There  is  a  fine  wagon  road  all  the  way  from  Los  Angeles  to 
Potosi,  with  the  exception  of  Cajon  Canon,  where  there  is  a 
steep  hill  sloping  up  the  western  side  of  the  mountain  a  dis- 
tance of  about  one  hundred  yards.  On  the  other  side  of  the 
mountain  there  is  a  gradual  and  easy  grade.  As  the  road  now 
stands,  4000  pounds  of  freight  are  hauled  through  Cajon 
Canon  by  light  six-mule  teams.  A  good  road  with  an  easy 
grade  can  be  made  through  this  canon,  and  we  observe  that 
preparations  are  making  to  improve  it. 

"  Going  from  Los  Angeles,  there  is  plenty  of  grass  and  water 
till  the  road  leaves  the  Mohave  at  Camp  Lake,  a  distance  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty-two  miles.  About  eighteen  miles  east  of 
Camp  Lake  are  Mule  Springs,  containing  water  until  late  in 
the  season.  About  fifteen  or  eighteen  miles  further  east  are 
the  Bitter  Springs,  near  which  mustang  grass  grows.  Further 
east,  a  distance  of  about  forty-five  miles,  are  the  Coyote  and 
Kingston  Springs.  Thence  to  Potosi  is  about  forty-five  miles. 
The  Colorado  river  is  about  thirty-five  miles  distant  from 
Potosi.- 

"Freight  by  land  has  ranged  as  high  as  eleven  cents  per 
pound  ;  but  recently  some  has  been  hauled  as  low  as  eight  cents. 
"  All  the  leads  in  the  Silver  Butte  are  the  same  class  of 
minerals.  Numerous  assays  have  been  made  at  different  times 
and  places.  They  run  from  $10  to  $1500  per  ton,  and  some 
others  as  high  as  $4000  per  ton  have  been  reported.  The  ore 
contains  silver,  gold  and  lead.  Some  assays  indicate  1,500 
pounds  of  lead  to  the  ton,  but  this  is  much  above  the  average. 
The  average  assays  in  silver  are  from  $500  to  $900  per  ton. 
In  the  Silver  Buttes  the  ore  is  encased  in  limestone  rock,  and 
is  very  easily  worked. 


2L6  HAND-BOOK  OP   MINING. 

"  Timber  for  building  purposes  is  scarce  ;  but  there  is  an 
abundance  of  wood  for  all  practicable  purposes  in  the  imme- 
diate vicinity.  Plenty  of  water  can  be  obtained  for  mining 
purposes,  though  it  is  not  abundant.  There  is  .a  fine  spring  on 
each  side  of  the  mountain — one  in  Potosi  in  the  shape  of  a 
^vell.  It  affords  an  abundance  of  limestone  water.  Potosi  is 
the  name  of  a  town  located  in  the  midst  of  the  mining  settle- 
ment at  the  Silver  Buttes.  It  is  regularly  laid  out  between 
two  spurs  of  the  mountains,  and  adjoining  Silver  Butte. 

"  Numerous  other  discoveries  of  silver,  gold,  copper,  iron 
and  tin  have  been  made  within  forty  to  sixty  miles  of  the  Silver 
Buttes  ;  and  an  extensive  vein,  very  rich  in  antimony  and  lead, 
has  been  discovered  about  forty  miles  north,  in  the  Charleston 
mining  district. 

"  South  of  the  Silver  Buttes,  about  twenty-five  miles,  in  the 
same  range  of  mountains,  some  minerals  have  been  discovered. 
About  sixty  miles  in  a  south-westerly  direction,  in  California, 
is  the  Salt  Springs  gold  mines.  They  consist  of  vast  quartz 
leads  penetrating  the  mountain,  and  are  said  to  be  very  rich. 
They  were  worked  in  1852,  but  were  subsequently  abandoned 
for  some  cause  ;  but  they  are  now  worked  by  a  Los  Angeles 
company,  with  Mexican  labor,  arastras  being  used  to  crush 
the  quartz. 

"  A  line  of  stages  has  been  recently  started  between  Los 
Angeles  and  Potosi.  The  proprietor,  Mr.  Johnson,  intends  to 
connect  an  express  with  Wells,  Fargo  &  Co.'s  at  Los  Angeles, 
and  thus  supply  facilities  for  getting  letters  and  papers  in  the 
mines.  The  stages  will  run  two  or  three  times  a  week  each  way. 

"  The  facilities  for  getting  to  the  mines  are  now  very  good. 
A  person  can  go  by  stage  or  steamer  from  San  Francisco  to 
Los  Angeles,  and  thence  by  stage  to  Potosi.  The  cost  of  the 
entire  trip  will  be  about  seventy  dollars." 

Esmeralda,  in  March,  1861.  A  correspondent  of 
the  Grass  Valley  National  wrote  thus  from  Aurora,  the  chief 
town  of  the  Esmeralda  district,  under  date  of  March  31st, 
1861  : 

"  From  the  fact  that  our  mining  laws  do  not  require  more 
than  two  days'  labor  to  be  done  on  each  claim,  prior  to  the 
first  of  June,  1861,  little  or  no  work  has  been  done  in  the  way 
of  prospecting  or  developing  claims  heretofore  discovered. 
Yet  there  is  a  great  deal  of  hen-scratching  upon  the  surface  of 


APPENDIX.  217 

the  ground  for  indications,  and  consequently  there  is  a  large 
number  of  claims  located  upon  boulders  and  spurs,  or  on  ledges 
that  never  had  any  existence,  save  in  the  imagination  of  the 
excited  prospectors.  This  carelessness,  on  the  part  of  miners, 
in  prospecting  and  defining  ledges,  entails  a  very  unnecessary 
outlay  for  recording,  and  much  of  this  wild-cat  stock  is  sold  to 
innocent  parties  in  California,  at  high  rates,  when  in  fact  it  is 
not  worth  the  recording  fees.  I  ana  informed  by  Mr.  Brawley, 
the  recorder  of  mining  claims,  that  there  are  upwards  of  five 
hundred  ledges  located  and  recorded,  and  over  1600  compa- 
nies, numbering  some  13,000  claims.  By  the  mining  laws  of 
the  district,  he  is  allowed  one  dollar  per  claim  for  recording  ; 
fifty  cents  for  a  certificate  of  claim  ;  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents 
for  recording  deed.  From  these  prices,  I  should  judge  he  has 
already  realized,  in  the  short  space  of  seven  months,  the  hand- 
some sum  of  $16,000. 

"  Four-fifths  of  the  claims  located  in  the  district  are  on  Sil- 
ver, Middle,  and  Last  Chance  hills.  The  principal  and  most 
noted  ledges,  are  the  Esmeralda,  Antelope,  Old  and  Young 
Winnemucca,  Wide  West,  Utah,  La  Platte,  Lady  Washing- 
ton, Lady  Dibble,  Wyoming,  Silver  Age,  Rio  Del  Monte, 
Yennango,  Constitution,  Lucerne,  Last  Chance,  Yellow  Jacket, 
Eldorado,  Live  Oak,  General  Jackson,  Ne-plus-ultra,  and 
Sacramento. 

"  Aurora  is  the  chief  town  in  the  district,  and  is  pleasantly 
situated  on  a  beautiful  flat,  formed  by  the  conjunction  of  two 
ravines,  which  come  down  from  between  Silver,  Middle,  and 
Last  Chance  hills.  The  town  was  surveyed  in  the  early  part 
of  last  October  by  Mr.  Clayton.  The  streets  run  east  and 
west,  and  north  and  south,  forming  right  angles ;  have  a  con- 
venient width,  (sixty  feet)  giving  it  a  decided  advantage  over 
most  Californian  mining  towns,  in  case  of  fire.  Good  water, 
and  plenty  of  wood,  with  rich  diggings  surrounding* it,  of  gold 
and  silver,  must  make  Aurora  one  of  the  most  wealthy  and 
permanent  towns  on  the  eastern  slope.  The  present  popula- 
tion is  about  six  hundred,  (five  ladies,  only)  and  increasing 
daily.  There  are  about  two  hundred  houses  and  cabins  ten 
provision  stores,  eighteen  or  twenty  whisky  mills,  two  tin 
shops,  (one  just  started  by  a  Grass  Yalley  man)  two  shoe- 
makers' shops,  two  barbers'  shops,  two  drug  stores,  one  notary 
public,  two  commissioners  of  deeds,  four  lawyers,  three  doctors, 
one  post  office,  two  express  offices,  three  butchers'  shops,  one 
9 


218  HAND-BOOK    OF    MINING. 

record  office  of  mining-  claims  and  deeds,  one  hotel,  three 
boarding  houses,  and  two  gambling  saloons,  with  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  bummers  and  loafers  of  the  first  water,  hang- 
ing about,  waiting  for  something  to  turn  up  ;  or  wailing  for 
some  new  diggings,  so  as  to  rush  in  and  get  a  claim  without 
having  to  prospect  for  it. 

"  New  buildings  are  going  up  on  every  side,  and  active  steps 
are  being  taken  to  build  some  four  large  quartz  mills.  A  part 
of  the  machinery  is  now,  I  learn,  on  the  way  to  this  place — 
also,  three  saw  mills  at  the  Meadows,  and  one  at  Mono. 

"  Lumber  is  now  worth  two  -hundred  dollars  per  thousand 
feet ;  flour,  plain,  sixteen  dollars ;  self-raising,  seventeen  dollars 
per  hundred  pounds  ;  bacon,  thirty-five  cents  ;  California  eggs, 
one  dollar  per  dozen  ;  Salt  Lake  eggs,  seventy-five  cents  ;  but- 
ter, seventy-five  cents ;  beans,  twenty  cents  ;  syrup,  three  dol- 
lars per  gallon  ;  potatoes,  twelve  cents  per  pound,  by  the 
sack  ;  hay,  by  the  bale,  fifteen  cents,  retail  twenty  cents  ; 
freight,  from  Piacerville  here,  is  twenty  to  twenty-two  and 
one-half  cents  per  pound.  Provisions  are  plenty  at  the  above 
rates." 

Diamonds  in  California.  We  understand  that  Mr. 
John  S.  Bassett,  of  Cherokee  Ravine,  found,  a  few  days  since, 
in  his  mining  claim  at  that  place,  what  has  been  pronounced 
a  diamond  by  Mr.  Young,  a  jeweler  of  this  town.  It  was 
found  by  him  wrhile  puddling  clay  for  washing.  We  under- 
stand, also,  that  S.  Glass,  Esq.,  some  time  since  found  two 
stones  of  the  same  description,  which  he  sent  to  New  York, 
and  which  were  also  pronounced  diamonds. — Oroville  Demo- 
crat, April,  1861. 

Silver  By-Laws.  The  certificate  of  incorporation 
must  be  considered  as  the  constitution  or  charter  of  a  com- 
pany, which  must  then  have  by-laws  to  provide  for  the  details 
of  government  and  management.  The  following  is  a  copy  of 
the  by-laws  of  the  "  Sides  Gold  and  Silver  Mining  Company," 
which  has  a  silver  claim  in  the  Virginia  district,  Nevada  Ter- 
ritory. These  by-laws  were  adopted. in  February  of  this  year, 
and  are  probably  very  similar  to  the  by-laws  of  most  other 
similar  companies : 

"  Tn  rrdnr  to  ^orrro  p  prvfyrf  frov^rprrort  of  tVo  S'^fs  GHrl 


APPENDIX.  219 

"  Resolved,  That  the  following  rules  and  regulations  be 
adopted ;  and  we,  the  undersigned,  pledge  ourselves  to  abide 
by  the  same,  and  hereby  authorize  and  impower  the  officers 
herein  mentioned  to  execute  and  perform  their  duties  as  herein 
expressed,  and  to  carry  out  the  meaning  and  intention  of  the 
said  rules  and  regulations. 

"  SECTION  1.  This  company  shall  be  known  as  the  "  Sides 
Gold  and  Silver  Mining  Company,"  and  its  operations  shall  be 
confined  to  mining  ground  on  the  Comstock  lead,  or  lode,  in 
Virginia  mining  district,  N.  T. 

"  SEC.  2.  A  majority  of  stock  represented  shall  constitute 
a  quorum  of  any  business,  at  any  regular  or  special  meeting. 

"  SEC.  3.  Regular  meetings  shall  be  held  on  the  first  Satur- 
day of  every  month,  in  Virginia  City.  Special  meetings  may 
be  called  at  any  time  in  Virginia  City  ;  provided,  a  majority 
of  the  shareholders  request  the  president  to  do  so,  which  officer 
shall  give  five  days'  notice  previous  to  the  said  special  meeting. 

"  SEC.  4.  The  officers  of  this  company  shall  consist  of  a 
president,  who  shall  act  as  secretary  and  treasurer  for  the  com- 
pany ;  also,  three  others,  with  the  president,  who  shall  consti- 
tute a  board  of  directors,  who  shall  hold  their  offices  during 
the  pleasure  of  the  company. 

"  SEC.  5.  The  president  shall  have  a  general  supervision  of  all 
work  required  to  be  performed  by  the  company  ;  he  shall  act  as 
ex  officio  president,  secretary  and  treasurer,  and  shall  preside  at 
all  meetings  held  by  the  company  ;  give  notice  of  and  collect 
all  assessments  levied  by  the  company  ;  keep  a  true  and  cor- 
rect account  of  all  moneys  received  and  disbursed  ;  and  at  the 
end  of  each  quarter  shall  present  the  company  with  a  correct 
statement  of  its  affairs. 

"  SEC.  6.  All  assessments  shall  be  levied  by  a  majority  of 
the  stock  represented,  and  shall  be  due  and  payable  within  ten 
days  from  the  time  of  levy. 

"  SEC.  7.  Should  default  be  made  in  payment  of  assessments, 
the  president  shall  have  power  to  sell  so  much  of  the  interest 
of  the  party  in  default,  to  any  person  or  persons,  at  public 
vendue  at  the  works  of  the  company,  to  pay  the  assessment 
thereon,  in  cash,  first  giving  ten  days'  notice  of  the  time  and 
place  of  sale,  by  a  written  notice  at  the  company's  works,  and 
also  at  two  other  public  places  in  Carson  county,  N.  T.  And 
said  president  is  hereby  empowered  to  execute  a  sufficient  deed 
of  conveyance  to  the  purchaser  thereof,  setting  out  fully  the 
facts  of  the  case. 


220  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

"  SEC.  8.  No  conveyance  of  any  share  of  this  company  shall 
be  considered  valid,  unless  the  party  or  parties  purchasing  shall 
freely  and  voluntarily  agree  to.be  governed  by  these  laws  ;  and 
every  new  member  so  purchasing  shall  be  required  to  affix  his 
or  her  signature  hereto. 

"  SEC.  9.  Any  or  all  of  the  foregoing  laws  may  be  altered, 
amended  or  annulled  at  any  regular  meeting,  provided  a  ma- 
ority  of  the  shareholders  deem  it  advisable. 

"  SEC.  10.  The  foregoing  laws  and  regulations  shall  become 
null  and  void  as  soon  as  the  Comstock  lead  or  lode  is  *  struck,' 
or  before,  if  the  company  shall  deem  proper." 

The  Management  cf  Washoe  Mining  Com- 
panies. A  correspondent  of  the  San  Francisco  Bulletin, 
writing  from  Virginia  City  under  date  of  April  8,  1861,  says  : 

"  I  do  not  know  of  any  calling  so  excitable  as  that  of  mining. 
Men  from  all  countries  meet  promiscuously,  upon  common 
ground,  in  search  of  gold  and  silver  ;  they  have  but  one  object 
in  view.  In  this  desire  there  are  no  secessionists — all  agree 
and  harmonize— they  have  no  North,  no  South,  no  East,  no 
West ;  all  are  one,  and  are  hugely  delighted  with  each  other. 
Beyond  this  one  idea,  all  lack  system  and  economy.  The  work 
is  frequently  undertaken  just  for  the  chances,  regardless  of  cost ; 
plans  are  matured,  companies  organized,  and  the  wherewith 
raised  to  prosecute  the  work  to  a  successful  result.  We  often 
hear  of  men  succeeding  wonderfully  in  amassing  means  in  such 
wild,  unmatured  operations  ;  but  seldom,  if  at  all,  of  those  who 
fail.  The  few  who  do  succeed  are  immediately  heralded  to  the 
world  by  the  press,  made  heroes  of,  and  almost  worshipped  as 
if  they  were  demi-gods,  no  matter  how  worthless  or  how  much 
favored  by  luck ;  whilst  the  good,  intelligent,  hard-working 
and  unfortunate  ones  are  possibly  unnoticed,  unless,  indeed,  to 
be  found  fault  with  by  friends  near  and  relations  far  away. 
The  reverse  of  this  should  be  the  case  ;  the  hard-toiling  miner 
should  be  talked  kindly  of,  and  encouraged  by  every  act  and 
gesture  to  be  of  good  cheer  to  the  end. 

"  That  I  may  be  better  understood,  permit  me  to  state  the 
manner  of  forming  mining  companies  here.  It  is  somewhat 
after  the  California  style.  Some  two  or  twenty  persons — the 
larger  number  being  very  objectionable  on  account  of  the  large 
size  of  the  claim,  as  well  as  the  difficulty  of  collecting  assess- 
ments from  many  of  its  members,  who  are  scattered  all  over 


APPENDIX.  221 

God's  creation — get  together  and  agree  upon  their  plan  of  op- 
erations. They  elect  a  superintendent,  give  out  contracts  for 
prospecting  the  ground,  levy  assessments  of  so  much  per  foot 
on  each  share,  and  then  collect  said  assessments,  if  it  can  be 
done.  Seldom  is  this  accomplished  after  the  first  two  or  three 
installments,  and  in  consequence  has  to  be  stopped,  and  per- 
haps finally  abandoned.  Although  by-laws  are  made  and 
signed  by  the  members,  yet  there  lacks  all  legal  power  to  com- 
pel delinquents  to  pay  up  their  assessments.  This  is  but  one 
of  the  ill  consequences  of  men  entirely  unknown  to  each  other 
forming  companies,  and  relying  upon  the  good  faith  of  each  of 
its  members  to  discharge  his  pledged  promised  duty. 

"  To  correct  this  shameful  abuse,  we  need  a  law  giving,  by 
short,  easy  and  cheap  process,  the  right  to  the  officers  of  the 
company  to  go  into  court,  and  on  proper  showings  prove  their 
account  and  have  their  remedy  thereafter  in  execution  against 
the  property  of  all  delinquent  shareholders.  No  defaulting 
member  could  in  justice  complain  against  this  mode  of  pro- 
cedure. In  this  particular,  and  in  relation  to  mining  com- 
panies, the  common  law  partnership  principle  should  be  su- 
perseded ;  the  wants  and  protection  of  the .  honest  miner,  as 
well  as  the  interest  of  the  country,  demand  it.  No  law  should 
exist,  if  it  be  found  to  aid  men  to  take  advantage  of  their  fair 
undertaking,  as  well  as  also  to  retard  the  development  of  claims 
and  the  general  prosperity  of  the  country.  As  matters  now 
stand,  the  existing  law  or  custom  is  a  principle  working  ir- 
remediable injury  to  all.  According  to  the  common  law  one 
partner  can  sue  another  on  an  account  settled,  though  it  be  of 
the  partnership.  Why  not,  then,  give  the  right  to  bring  the 
parties  into  court,  without  compelling  the  party  aggrieved  to 
go  into  dissolution  of  the  partnership,  and  adjust  their  ac- 
counts, leaving  the  party  suffering  to  his  remedy  as.  in  common 
law  on  an  account  adjusted  ? 

"  Another  great  evil  exists.  Companies  when  formed  in  the 
manner  just  stated,  often  find  their  hands  tied  by  their  faithless 
officers,  who  generally  are  elected  for  a  given  time,  with  a 
power  to  levy  and  collect  assessments,  and  to  superintend  work 
and  develop  the  claim.  But  it  happens  often  that  if  any  rich 
developments  be  made,  the  entire  energies  of  the  officers  ap- 
pear to  become  prostrated  ;  the  work  barely  drags  on,  and  as 
a  consequence,  discontent  arises  among  the  members,  which  in 
turn  aids  these  very  officers  in  their  speculative  designs,  and 


222  HAND-BOOK  OP   MINING. 

frustrates  the  very  object  of  the  company — the  successful 
working  of  the  claim.  The  officers  in  the  meantime  grow  very 
complacent,  and  apparently  endeavor  to  conciliate  the  dis- 
cordant opinions  which  had  been  brought  about  designedly, 
by  themselves,  and  which  are  indirectly  kept  up  by  outside 
influences  set  quietly  in  motion  by  themselves.  In  the  mean- 
time the  undertaking  slackens,  the  members  grow  careless  of 
its  interest,  and  scarcely  if  ever  go  near  the  works  ;  the  good 
ore  is  designedly  passed  by  ;  but  care  is  taken  by  the  officers 
to  take  samples  of  the  ore  to  their  offices,  where  they  are  placed 
out  of  sight  and  shown  only  to  their  immediate  confidential 
friends.  Next  comes  the  tragedy  of  confidence  betrayed  ;  the 
title  of  the  company  to  the  property  is  made  apparently  de- 
fective by  this  outside  influence — the  work  of  these  very  officers 
to  frighten  the  stockholders  to  sell  at  any  offered  price.  This 
succeeds  admirably ;  the  magnetic  message  meanwhile  speeds 
away  to  San  Francisco,  Sacramento  and  elsewhere — '  Buy ! 
buy  quick ! '  The  order  comes  '  Buy  all  you  can/  The  purchase 
is  made  at  a  figure  low — say  ten  or  fifteen  dollars — and  sold 
by  these  very  trustworthy  (?)  officers  of  the  company,  at  say — 
just  double  that  amount. 

"  This  state  of  things  is  common  street  talk,  and  can,  I 
honestly  believe,  be  substantiated  to  a  great  extent.  There 
are  men  here  engaged  in  this  same  business,  who,  when  they 
came,  were  without  means,  but  who  now  own  very  large  in- 
terests in  claims  believed  to  be  as  good  as  the  Ophir  perhaps, 
if  the  property  were  worked  to  develop  them.  But  this  is  not 
the  idea  ;  procrastination,  ostensibly  to  freeze  out  the  small 
fish,  is  the  plain,  palpable  object." 

[The  correspondent  proceeds  to  find  fault  with  the  superin- 
tendent of  a  certain  company,  who  receives  handsome  pay  for 
doing  little  or  nothing  ;  and  continues  :] 

"  It  may  be  asked  why  does  the  company  allow  such  a  man 
to  take  the  management  ?  Such  of  the  members  as  are  here 
do  not  consent  to  it :  they  object,  find  fault,  and  talk  aloud  in 
the  streets  of  the  abuse.  But  they  are  in  the  minority.  In 
the  sale  of  the  stock,  the  majority  is  held  in  San  Francisco , 
and  the  owners  send  here  their  proxies- to  the  officers  in  charge 
to  elect  whom  they  please  ;  and  these  always  shape  things  to 
suit  their  present  and  prospective  positions  in  the  company, 
with  which  the  owners  below  seem  satisfied  for  the  time  being, 
doubtless  waiting  until  the  whole  stock  is  in  the  hands  of  the 


APPENDIX.  223 

capitalists.  The  whole  scheme  finally  ends  in  a  monopoly  by 
an  absentee  majority. 

"  Although  I  have  referred  to  the  doings  of  a  particular 
company  here,  yet  these  things  are  common  to  many  com- 
panies. It  strikes  me  that  it  would  be  to  the  final  benefit  of 
large  stockholders  in  California  to  act  in  concert  with  the 
small  stockholders  here,  who  are  the  actual  discoverers  as  well 
as  the  bone  and  sinew  of  the  whole  operation,  to  the  end  that 
the  common  interest  of  all  might  be  secured.  Let  the  fact  of 
absentee  monopoly  be  once  fairly  understood — an  alarm  among 
the  now  despised  and  badly  used  small  stockholders  will  be  the 
result — and,  as  a  consequence,  vengeance  on  the  property  of 
the  men  persisting  in  monopoly  will  be  sought,  in  a  way  little 
thought  of.  I  don't  pretend  to  say  that  such  conduct  would 
be  right ;  I  only  state  the  fact. 

"  These  small  stockholders,  too,  are  now  becoming  heartily 
tired  of  incorporating  companies,  for  the  reason  that  they  end 
in  a  monopoly  by  absentee  shareholders.  So  soon  as  the  deed 
of  trust  is  executed,  they  find  that  they  have  surrendered  their 
all.  Heavy  assessments  immediately  follow,  and  if  not  paid 
according  to  the  programme,  their  stock  is  sold  ;  and  rather 
than  suffer  this,  they  sell  at  any  price  offered  them,  there  being 
really  no  choice  left. 

"  Another  objection  to  these  companies  is,  the  money  raised 
by  way  of  assessments  is  frequently  squandered  in  the  building 
of  fine  brick  and  other  buildings  for  the  officers  of  the  com- 
pany, whom  the  controlling  absent  stockholders  seem  first 
most  anxious  to  provide  with  exorbitant  salaries,  irrespective 
of  merit  or  capability  to  arrange  the  affairs  of  the  company, 
before  the  mine  is  in  thorough  working,  paying  condition." 

Lost  Mines  of  Arizona.  In  the  last  century,  one  of 
the  most  notable  mines  of  what  is  now  Arizona»was  the  one 
called  the  Planchas  de  Plata,  the  "  planks  of  silver."  Its  exact 
position  is  unknown  now,  though  the  neighborhood  in  which 
it  was  found  is  plainly  indicated  by  the  old  records  and  letters. 
Don  Manuel  Retes,  now  Captain  of  the  port  of  Mazatlan, 
thus  spoke  of  this  mine,  in  an  essay  on  the  mineral  resources  of 
Northern  Sonora  : 

"This  mineral  deposit,  situated  31>£0  north,  long.  H1K° 
west  of  Greenwich,  is  described  by  the  Jesuits  as  having  been 


224  HAND-BOOK   OF   MINING. 

the  last  century,  distant  from  four  to  five  leagues  from  the  mine 
of  Arizona  ;  about  fifteen  from  the  town  of  Tumacaicori,  the 
nearest  settlement ;  about  twenty-five  from  the  Presidio  of 
Santa  Cruz  ;  nearly  ninety  from  tires,  and  about  one  hundred 
and  thirty  from  Guaymas.  The  silver  was  discovered  in  sheets 
of  different  size,  from  which  the  name  of  Planchas  de  Plata, 
'  sheets  of  silver,'  originated.  They  were  found  almost  on  the 
surface,  perfectly  pure,  and  without  adhering  to  any  foreign 
substance  ;  in  a  flexible  state,  capable  of  receiving  impressions, 
and  only  hardening  on  being  exposed  to  the  atmosphere.  The 
region  which  produces  the  same  is  an  earth  of  the  color  of,  and 
very  similar  to,  ashes,  which  extends  in  visible  leads  more  or 
less  wide,  and  in  parts  subdivided  in  veins,  over  all  the  hills 
and  mountains  adjoining  the  main  deposit.  Among  the  sheets 
extracted,  two  are  worth  mentioning — especially  one  which  on 
account  of  its  almost  fabulous  size,  weighing  one  hundred  and 
forty-nine  arrobas,  it  was  found  necessary  to  employ  the  heat  of 
four  forges  at  the  same  time  to  reduce  to  a  smaller  bulk — the 
other  weighed  twenty-one  arrobas,  though  according  to  other 
accounts  it  was  much  larger.  The  news  of  such  immense 
lumps  having  been  found,  without  the  investment  of  much 
labor,  could  not  fail  to  convoke  a  great  number  of  people  to 
that  region,  not  only  from  the  neighboring  settlements,  but 
also  from  the  most  distant  provinces.  The  amount  of  silver 
extracted  within  a  very  short  period,  amounted  to  400  arrobas, 
or  five  tons." 

Another  mine  very  rich  in  silver  was  the  Arizona  ;  the  po- 
sition of  which  is  also  lost.  It  was  in  search  of  this  mine  that 
Count  Kaousset  de  Boulbon  made  his  celebrated  expedition 
into  Sonora,  whither'  he  went,  at  first,  in  good  faith  and  with 
peaceable  intentions,  though  after  he  had  been  defrauded  and 
attacked,  he  turned  filibuster.  There  are  persons  who  are 
ready  to  assert  that  the  exact  position  of  the  Arizona  mine  is 
known  ;  but  the  best  informed  say  it  is  not. 


THE   END. 


ry 


14  DAY  USE 

^      RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  dace  stamped  below, 
or  on  the  date  to  which  renewed.  Renewals  only: 


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General  Library 
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